Memento mori
by Jade Wylkyns
Summary: Sometimes, lies are more believable than truth, but Naruto refuse to be content with the lies. Time is limited, but he will strive for truth.. and save his precious people. There are friends in this world, but there are foes. He needs to decide who's who.
1. Prologue

**Yo. I'm Jade Wylkyns and there's just couple of things I wanna clear up. First of all, the story plot actually belongs to BlackPANDA xD, not me, well at least the beginning of the story. The rest will belong to mine. Also, I received permission to use her ideas with my other account, which actually has this story. In fact, I wrote the story based on BlackPANDA xD's aSTRAY, naming it The Truth. However, over my little forced vacation, I came to hate my story and decided to change it... quite a bit. Yes, I admit that I was too lazy to rewrite the prologue so this is nearly word-to-word account of BlackPANDA's prologue, but I actually wrote the next chapter, twisting couple things here and there. The events that happen in the aSTRAY will happen in this story as well, but I'm going to be rewriting them, adding some of my ideas as well. In fact, I will start diverging from the aSTRAY from chapter three or so, possibly even four, and from there, my ideas will begin (yes, there will be some my ideas here and there in the first two-three chapters but it won't be like SIGNIFICANT kind). By the way, I decided to get rid of the OC that I put in my story The Truth. There will be no OCs in this story, well not as the MAIN main kind.**

**To BlackPANDA xD: I actually got your express permission with my other account Kaerelie Cecilia. I plan to take down The Truth from my KC account if I can figure out what the heck I'm supposed to do and start a new story based on your aSTRAY in my JW account - actually, it's already started but... anyways. If you don't want that, then just Private Message me and I can always fix it up (like move it back to my KC account or something).**

**Thanks guys. The first 2K of my first chapter is written already and I'll try to finish it up as fast as I can.**

**By the way, Memento mori is a Latin phrase translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die", or "Remember you will die", literally "[in the future] remember to die", since "memento" is a future imperative of the 2nd person, and mori is a deponent infinitive. It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality. The phrase has a tradition in art that dates back to antiquity.**

**I finally found a great beta! With her, I'm rewriting all my chapters (and make it better). This means that I'll upload my fourth chapter a bit later but the first three chapters will be a lot better so I guess it's kind of fair price. You guys might want to re-read all my chapters as I rewrite them because I'm going to add more descriptive words and might change couple things (it'll be minor change though so it's not like you HAVE to reread them). Thank you, SerbiaTakesCntrl (my awesome beta)!**

**- Jade**

* * *

_"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." _******- Albert Einstein**

_"If ever you should need my life, come and take it." _**- The Sea Gull**

_"The darkness that surrounds us cannot hurt us. It is the darkness in your own heart you should fear." _******- Silvetris**

* * *

**Prologue:**

Shimmering silvery frost permeated through the velvet sky like breath chilled from chewing ice. The burgundy moon illuminated the vast expanse of trees, bathing the brush and leaves with a slather of blood. Trembling hares and shivering foxes sought comfort beneath the shelter of dirt holes and ragged nests, and the usually chattering trees were muted with an ominous silence, leaving only the minute breeze to weave amongst the branches, the reticence thickly settling over the drab ground.

But deep in the middle of the throng of trees was a village. It was an uncommonly large village, stretching for hundreds of thousands of acres in a rough circular shape, barricaded by rocky mountain on one side and thick forest shutting it off from the world on all others. The complex spider web of the streets and alleys twisted their way to the colossal red tower that sat in the shadow of the mountain like the chain of a complex maze. All along the labyrinth were lights that shone brightly in the darkness of the night, twinkling like some sort of candle show. Laughter and cries of joy rang through the air, breaking the oppressive silence that had claimed the other regions, so alarmingly different from the rest of the world.

There was a festival, a celebration of the villagers freedom, and everyone could feel the excitement vibrating in the air as they danced, laughed, and played and sung. The parents, who were enjoying a timely respite, toasted with one another jocundly, giggling and chortling at one another's jokes, while otherwise single men and women wandered curiously about, eyeing each other with eager scrutiny. A man with graying hair sat in relaxed manner next to a dango stand, sipping a steaming cup of spiced tea while watching a small child carefully attempting to scoop up a goldfish from a basket filled with water. The vivacious air was imbued with lively music that people, young and old, swayed to blithely.

The world was asleep, but the people didn't care.

It was a festival.

They were finally free, free from the constant edge that they had lived in for the past years. Was it so wrong to celebrate that? And so, they continued with their happiness, oblivious to the chill of the rest of the world.

But there was one man, so unlike from the rest. He was shrouded in a shadow of mud red, a cloak that hid him deeply within the comfort of darkness. All that was left to be seen were his thick-soled boots and a trace of a frown as he bowed his head and tread through the crowd of convivial villagers. As if he were a ghost, he passed by each individual as though he were nothing but a wisp of wind, just another shadow.

Just another memory.

There was no sound to indicate that he had existed, no evidence of him having been standing on top of the Hokage mountain that he had just left. He blended in with the crepuscule night like a phantom would among the spirits. Like a forgotten memory…

And this man, so different from the rest, avoided the people and went to the reality of the world. He found himself at the gates of Konoha, and just stood there alone, away from the laughter and away from light.

Then, he was consumed by the silence.

And without a backwards glance, the man left the light and embraced the darkness of the truth. He walked with quick and sure steps as he disappeared into the trees and his figure was soon enveloped by the darkness.

The night was cold and stars glinted brightly against the dark sky, not as fire would, but ice.

But only one person in the entire world could feel it.

**~xXx~**

It was morning in Konoha, as the light of the sun finally broke through the horizon and into the clear, light blue sky of the morning.

A tall figure walked through the deserted street. A head of unruly dark hair stuck up in the back of his head and his swagger was one of someone who was used to respect, to constant attention. His attention was not diverted by the discarded litter on the ground, or the festival lanterns still swinging high on the rooftops. The dark onyx eyes that were partially hidden by the man's long bangs had his sight on one thing alone: a lone, dreary apartment that stuck out against the calm and bright background like a sore thumb.

But as he stalked past the building, a rather odd feeling clenched in his stomach and pinched his skin. Something cool settled along his brow, making its way down the contour of his face, and he suddenly understood that something was amiss. Something about the place was not quite right and it made him feel a solitude that he hadn't experienced for a long time since the event years ago. The apartment was abandoned and he knew it. His steps became quicker and hurried, his torso bouncing unevenly to the inconsistent rhythm of the footings, until he was to the point of breaking out into a sprint.

To the figure's shock, a whiff of air saturated with the rancidodor of alcohol and explosive powder bombarded his senses as he pushed open the creaky front door of the dilapidated apartment and set his foot inside. He began running up the stairs, skipping a stair or two at a time, subconsciously crinkling his nose.

When he reached his destination, he slammed open the ajar door and froze.

The apartment was filled with mangled corpses lying everywhere.

Their heads were completely missing. No, their heads weren't sliced cleanly off; it was more like as if somebody stuffed batches of explosive notes in their mouths and detonated it, judging by the amount of blood splattered against the walls.

The figure stepped numbly into the apartment, when his foot suddenly broke through the wooden flooring. He hastily withdrew his foot and found, much to his surprise, that it was a loose floorboard. Dismissing it as just the flooring in need of repair, he proceeded to step over it when a dark shape under the floorboard caught his eyes. He crouched down carefully and found the identity of the shape:

A single black book.

The figure curiously took out the small book, and with trembling hands opened it, and began reading the neat letters written in dark ink.

_To the curious reader that finds this…_

_In this book is my life, with all the details and thoughts that I could catalogue and remember. I left this behind so that people might one day understand why exactly I did what I did. Why I acted as I had._

_If it's you Sasuke that picked up this book, then, teme, I have one thing to say to you. Get over that silly and pointless skulking and start actually living your life for kami's sake._

_- Naruto_

Sasuke, for that was the figure's name, simply stared at the familiar writing, incomprehension covering his features before something red at the bottom of the page caught his eyes. At the bottom of the page was another sentence, written suspiciously in what looked like blood. The words themselves were written in a different penmanship.

**LOOK UP UCHIHA.**

Sasuke quickly glanced upwards and his onyx eyes widened as he saw the tens of thousands of explosive paper notes stuck to the ceiling, their ends burning rapidly, triggered by a long wire that, to Sasuke's horror, was attached to the book itself.

A long way away, at a large red tower almost underneath a massive cliff, the Hokage jumped in shock as he felt a large tremor coming from Naruto's apartment.

_This is my life. This is my story. Believe it._

* * *

**Thanks guys for reading~!**

**- Jade**

**posted: 11/24/2010**

**last edited: 12/18/2010**


	2. Chapter 1: Cold Blue Eyes

**Yo. Jade is back. First of all, I want you all to know that the first half (-ish) is written by me based off the original aSTRAY but after a while I got lazy and I just copied and pasted the latter part, just making some corrections here and there. Just don't flame me about it since I already know all about it. Anyways, yes, this chapters is pretty much the same as the aSTRAY and the next chapter probably will be too, though from chapter four, I will start twisting the plot a bit.**

**Secondly, I hope you guys all noticed that I changed Naruto's age from aSTRAY. Yes, it was done on purpose. It was necessary in order to incorporate my next twist. You guys will find out more about it later on.**

**By the way, I'm still looking for a beta.**** I like to have my chapters nearly perfect, if not perfect. However, I don't want just a person who knows how to correct spelling or grammar mistakes. I want someone who will give me feedbacks and some ideas to bounce off from. Also, I want my beta to be an experienced writer (since I'm not) who can make my chapters sound more fluid. The beta must be willing to correct beyond just basic mistakes like changing the sentence form, or rewriting a paragraph if it doesn't make sense. Yes, I know I'm asking for a lot but that's what I'm looking for. Just PM me or post some reviews if you're willing for the position.**

**Until then, just enjoy.**

**- Jade**

* * *

_Let's start from the beginning, shall we? I guess when that sign fell, that's when things started. I could never resist my stupid hero complex. It just felt natural, I guess. Even now, years later, I still have such a noble head, and won't refuse any kind of call for help. It's one of the only things, really, that I share with my dobe persona._

_You might be thinking, what am I talking about? What dobe persona? I'm not the stupid dead last you've always known. I'm not loud, I'm not obnoxious, I'm not like anything you've always thought of me. The mask was a shield, and yet, as Kano said, it attracted people. It was one of my hidden abilities: people naturally flocked to me. Well, they did once they got over the oversized kitten living in my head, that is._

_But why a mask? What the hell would make me need one in the first place? To truly understand, you would have to be Gaara, the one-tailed Tanuki, from Suna. You would have to be Yugito, the two-tailed Demon Cat, from Kumo. You would have to be me, the nine-tailed Kyuubi no Kitsune. We are jinchuuriki, a human sacrifice. We are powerful. We are cursed. We are feared. And you'll never understand that._

_I used to be confused by all these events. But at five years old, this was the age of acceptance, when I finally decided to accept everything that would happen to me. After five years of constant threat, I guess I just got used to it. I guess that's why I could get over things quickly._

_But there are still some things I'll always deny._

- Naruto

* * *

**_I have not slept._**

**_Between the acting of a dreadful thing_**

**_And the first motion, all the interim is_**

**_Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:_**

**_The Genius and the mortal instruments_**

**_Are then in council; and the state of man,_**

**_ Like to a little kingdom, suffers then_**

**_The nature of an insurrection._**

**_- Shakespeare (Julius Caesar)_**

* * *

A small boy darted through the narrow, deserted alley with only rain for his company, the pitter patter of his running feet muffled by the muddy ground. His once blond hair was matted with dirt and grime, giving the color of more like yellowish bronze, and his tattered baggy clothes obviously had seen better days. His cerulean blue eyes widened as he found out that the alley was a dead end. His eyes started to dart around as they quickly scanned the alley and suddenly the boy swerved from his path, his eyes fixated on a small space between the tight-knit houses.

_'Just a little more. Just give me three more seconds and I'll be safe. Please, if there is any kami out there, than just give me three more seconds.'_ The boy prayed as he sprinted as fast as his short legs could carry him toward his would-be haven.

As the distant thudding of heavy feet was getting louder and louder, the boy pushed himself to his limit, tears escaping his eyes from the strain on his heart. The downpour of rain soaked his baggy black shirt that was ripped in places, causing it to stick to his scrawny body. The shirt served as a second skin of sort, albeit quite a bit wrinkled, as it traced the contour of the boy's rib cage and hollow stomach. It was only the adrenaline rush that kept him going, that gave him the power to run.

Once again, he was being tailed. It happened quite often, but this time he knew that he might not be able to get away. He already spent his energy running away from the mob earlier this day and he just didn't have the enough strength. Due to this regular occurrence, he used to have a bodyguard that he called Idiot-san because he, to put it bluntly, really sucked at his job. The boy suspected that he was doing it on purpose and learned to never depend on him.

Finally reaching his destination, the boy slipped into the crack and hid himself from the deserted alley just as the owners of thudding feet burst into the alley.

"I saw him go into this alley. I swear that little demon brat is here. Besides, this is a dead-end. I bet that brat is just hiding somewhere here." A brawny man with brown hair clinging to his skull shouted, his muscles straining against his shirt at every syllable.

It wasn't civilians this time. No. He had lost them a while ago. Now, it was chunins and jounins that were out for his blood, out to enjoy his pain. The boy knew that it will be harder to lose them this time, having used up all of his tricks. Now, there was only one place left to go to. The Hokage tower…

Would he make it?

More men entered the scene, at least half of them with bright flashlights. They scanned the alley – every nooks and cracks. The boy started to back away from the opening of the crack and gave out a small gasp of surprise as his bony shoulder blades slammed into a concrete. He could see the shadows approaching his hideout, the light getting brighter and brighter. Squishing himself into the shadow of the tall walls, the boy attempted to blend in as an ugly face peered in, contorted in a drunken grin.

"Where are you, you little demon brat? Mommy's got a little batch of cookies for you here." A man sing-songed gleefully as the boy gave a small shudder.

As though the higher kamis had heard his silent pleas for help, the man didn't notice the unusual shape bulging out of the wall and passed the crack, cursing loudly. Despite him being a shinobi, the alcohol in his bloodstream and the downpour of rain had blurred his vision, thus preventing him from noticing the small huddled figure of Naruto.

"Shit. Where is that fucking demon brat? That motherfucker killed my brother. Hope he catches flu from this weather and burn in hellfire. Yeah. That will be the great ending to that little demon. And we will sing happy death song to our beloved demon, won't we Tai?" The man burst into a boisterous laughter, the words slurring every now and then. Another man who was swaying from the intoxication slapped the former man in the back and joined in the cruel laughter.

The boy stayed silent in the uncomfortable position until he couldn't hear the loud drunken sounds of villagers anymore. The boisterous voices faded into the distance, leaving the boy alone once again. The said boy was Naruto Uzumaki, an abandoned orphan of the village of Konoha. He was merely five years old and was suppose to stay in the orphanage but he was kicked out, literally, once again. After peering out from his haven, he made sure the coast was clear before darting from his hideout and traced his way back out of the alley. He slowed down to a walk as the adrenaline rush left him, leaving him panting alone in the godforsaken street.

"Why… what did I do? I didn't do anything… At least I don't think I did." Naruto spoke softly as he leaned against graffiti covered wall, tears clearing a path on his dirt-stained cheek. Suddenly, he heard a voice, others joining them. He tensed his legs to dart once again and found that it was too late. The owners of the voices had already caught the sight of him and were too close, too close for him to get away this time.

"Ah ha. Look who we have here. Here is the treasured demon brat of our village. See how pathetic he looks, crying the tears of a crocodile. After all, demons don't cry, do they?" The same man that had peered into his hideout before grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt and pulled him close to his face. The heavy stench of alcohol befuddled the blond child's mind, the odor overpowering him. "I asked, demon. Demons don't cry, do they?" The man began to raise his voice as his muscles twisted into a contorted smile.

Naruto refused to look into the man's eyes, the eyes that held the power and cruelty. Instead, he looked at the hand that was grabbing him, noting the grime that caked the man's filthy hand. The overgrown nails were black with dirt and the hairy fingers were stubby.

"Answer me! I asked you a question, you filthy motherfucker! Demons don't cry do they?" The man shook Naruto, making the latter wince away from the man's foul breath and yellow teeth.

"They don't." Naruto answered softly, willing to do anything to get away from this sorry excuse of a man. The rough grip was starting to hurt now and his ragged shirt was protesting against the strain of his body.

"Damn, you're right." The man was grinning even wider now, displaying the uneven rows of yellowed teeth and radiating ranky smell with each breath, and turned to the men he brought along with him. "See? Our pretty little demon admits it too. Demons don't cry and he knows it. That's why he is weeping those fraudulent crocodile tears." He burst into laughter in which the other men quickly joined in.

The rain began to fall harder on Naruto, soaking his rags, as he shivered. Suddenly he felt the breath get knocked out of him as the man slammed his back against the nearby wall.

"You see, my little precious demon. You have been treated far too well so far. I'll show you what real pain is. I'll do exactly what you have done to my family, to the Y. You slaughtered my parents. You skinned my little sister alive with that foul chakra of yours. Yes, yes. But that wasn't enough, was it, little demon? You had to attack those two children earlier, huh? Yes, we all know that you relish in other's pain. Now, let's see how much you love when you're the one in pain. You see, it's my turn to inflict pain. I hope you're ready… but then again, I don't care if you're ready or not." He let out a boisterous laughter once again and the other men began to start a chant. "Kill the demon. Kill the demon. Kill the demon…"

_'Why… Why do they hate me so much? I swear… I SWEAR I never hurt anyone, let alone kill anyone. What is it about me? WHY?'_ Naruto thought as tears escaped his eyes.

It just… didn't make sense…

**XXXXX FLASHBACK START XXXXX**

Naruto strolled across the bridge, his tiny hands in the pocket of his rather baggy shorts that he kept on by a makeshift belt of some shoestrings he gathered from trash. He fingered gama-chan, his precious frog-shaped wallet that he received two weeks ago for his fifth birthday from his grandfather figure, the Sandaime Hokage, whom he called Jiji-san.

Despite the obvious attention he was drawing, the constant whispering as people looked at him with disdain was more than enough clue, Naruto walked in a leisurely pace, deliberately ignoring the fact that he was in the spotlight.

As the young blond wondered what he will do that day, a rough shove shook him out of his daydream, sending him tumbling to the ground. Naruto focused his bright blue eyes to see a large, rotund figure of a man who had an unpleasant scowl on his face. Being quick-witted, he instantly knew that the shove was anything but an accident.

"WATCH IT, BRAT!" The man growled, the scowl deepening as he gave the younger boy a look of contempt.

Plastering a large friendly grin on his face as he got back to his feet and shook the dirt off his clothes, Naruto piped up. "Sorry, sorry, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going, sir." He quickly told the man with utmost politeness as he bowed his head respectfully.

The conversation was starting to attract crowds as adults and children alike began to stop what they were doing and began to watch the small confrontation. The man cursed under his breath, too softly for Naruto to catch it, but Naruto knew that it couldn't be anything nice. However, he acted as though he didn't hear anything and gave the man a large, sunny smile. The crowd began to trade furtive glances at each other, some curious while others with hatred for the small blond boy before them.

Growling, the man stomped away, managing to step on Naruto's small foot quite painfully and giving a dark look before he left. Ignoring the aching pain coming from his injured foot and fighting the tears of pain that threatened to fall, Naruto kept his smile plastered to his face. As the crowd dispersed, Naruto resumed his stroll, just to be knocked down once again. He turned around to see who his attackers were when he caught the sight of two boys who looked to be about four. They seemed to be identical twins, with matching red beanie hats pulled over their short brown hair.

Scowling at him, probably for interrupting what seemed like a game of tag, they quickly picked themselves off and resumed their little race. Naruto carelessly picked himself off before walking off, rolling his eyes at their rudeness.

"AAAAAH!"

Naruto snapped his head toward the scream, his eyes widening and his smile was immediately replaced by mixture of shock and horror. Above the Konoha bookstore, an enormous wooden sign bearing the words _'Blue Serein'_ had broken off from the rooftop, falling at a breakneck speed towards the two kids he had just bumped into. The villagers around him, mostly only the elderly and kids, screamed warnings at them but they remained oblivious, too engrossed in their game to pay attention.

As Naruto raced over there, the world seemed to go in a slow motion of a sort. His astute mind took in two facts: one, there was no ninja around the marketplace in the morning, meaning no one else was going to save them, and two, with only short stubby legs, he wasn't going to make it in time.

Stubbornly denying the facts, Naruto kept racing down the street. He had to save them! Blue eyes stared desperately at the falling sign. Why couldn't it just go away! Pushing aside shocked people, he screamed.

"STOPPPP!"

The last thing Naruto saw before he fell into unconsciousness was the sign disappearing in a swirl of black threads.

**~ xXx ~**

"I think he's waking up…"

Naruto groaned. Why was he feeling such a pounding headache? Reluctantly opening his bleary eyes, he stared up at a nearby blurry object that was obscuring most of his vision. Slowly, his vision cleared, revealing the worried face of the Sandaime Hokage, the esteemed leader of the village of Konoha.

Shooing away the nurse, the Sandaime gave Naruto a grandfatherly look.

"Naruto? How are you feeling?" the Hokage asked in a worried tone.

Naruto blinked before glancing at the surroundings, his sagacious mind quickly taking in its findings. He was in a fluffy white bed and the four white walls that encased the room smelt strongly of antiseptic. He was in a hospital.

Turning back to the Sandaime, he tilted his head, only to be met with a wave of pain washing over him. "Ow," he piped up bluntly. He was rewarded by the Hokage's low chuckle, the wrinkled face of the older man visibly relaxing.

"Do you remember what happened, Naruto?" he asked kindly.

Naruto shook his head but immediately regretted it as a new waves of pain washed over him. Seeing the younger boy grimace, the Hokage continued with a gentler tone.

"You suddenly collapsed in the middle of the street… The doctors said it was due to severe charka exhaustion…" his grandfatherly tone was continued with a more serious tone. "Do you know why?"

"Chakra…?" Naruto asked slowly in confusion, his mind working overdrive as it attempted to define a meaning for a word he faintly remembered hearing before.

"It's the energy source of our bodies," the Hokage explained.

Then it all clicked in his head. Naruto remembered hearing the word as he was observing the older boys train. Their jounin sensei was talking something about chakra and how they had to picture it in their mind. Chakra was apparently something that one was suppose to be able to control in order to perform those cool jutsus that ninjas performed.

Naruto nodded his head, slowly this time, in understanding. Slowly, the memories came back to him, albeit in pieces. The sign… What exactly happened? His mind raced over the possibilities, although none of them made much sense. He glanced up to see the Hokage's expecting face and realized that he was supposed to say something.

Then the memories of two brown haired boys popped into his head. "Are the lil' people okay?" Naruto asked suddenly, waving his short arms in obvious display of panic.

"Lil' people?" the Hokage echoed in amusement, a low chuckle escaping his wrinkled mouth. "Do you mean the two little boys who told me that you somehow collapsed and were lying down in the middle of the street? Why wouldn't they be?"

"Huh…? What happened to… ah never mind," Naruto faltered as he looked up at his only parental figure in his life. His eyes threatened to twitch uncontrollably. How could they NOT be? They were almost hit by a frikin' 10 meter long sign!

The hokage sighed worryingly and Naruto felt a pang of guilt run through him for making his oji-san come all the way to the hospital to visit him, thus effectively forgetting what he was going to ask. The feeling felt really odd though, like it was a foreign feeling. Before he could ponder that, the Hokage stood up slowly, breaking him out of his little musing.

"I have to go now, Naruto. Come visit me when you feel better, okay?" he said with a small smile and upon seeing Naruto nod complacently, he walked out the door.

Naruto stared at his retreating back before snuggling into the bed, trying to ignore the steady pounding in his head. Chakra exhaustion sucked. Soon, only the pitter patter of the rain hitting the window was heard, and Naruto fell into a light slumber.

**~ xXx ~**

"Get. UP!"

Naruto opened his eyes reluctantly as he was roughly awakened by a pair of hands forcibly shaking him into consciousness. Looking up with his rather groggy eyes, he saw the nurse that was here earlier with oji-san, sneering down at him with utter disgust.

Nodding obediently, as he knew that he would only get hurt even more if he resisted, Naruto quickly got off the bed, changed, and was practically shoved out of the room. Still slightly sleepy, he walked clumsily down the empty hall, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to ward off the sleep. It was only then that Naruto, with a panicked jolt, realized the time: it was around midnight and was pouring outside.

Naruto felt a ping of dread rise up in him. The nurses had released him at this time for a reason, the drunken villagers. For some reason, the villagers always thought of him as dangerous at night time and every night, Naruto had to avoid going outside at this time because if he got caught by them…. Well, it would be really unpleasant.

But it wasn't like he was evil. It wasn't like he was a demon or anything.

….Right?

Sure enough, as he took only five steps out of the hospital, he heard shouts promising pain coming in his direction.

"THERE HE IS!"

"OVER HERE PEOPLE!"

Swearing profusely, a trait that he had learnt from many drunken people, he ran in the opposite direction, taking random turns in complicated patterns in hopes of losing them.

Running down the deserted street, he found himself in the same place where he lost consciousness. Suddenly, he skidded to a halt, his cerulean blue eyes looking in disbelief at the spot right above the Konoha bookstore. The sign wasn't there: it didn't even look like it was placed there in the first place. Like it never even existed…

In fact, Sandaime didn't seem like he knew that the sign had somehow miraculously disappeared… The two kids had told Oji-san that he only had collapsed and not that he was racing over there to save them… What the _heck_ was going on?

Angry voices reached his ears again, breaking him out of his reverie, and Naruto was jolted into the reality once again and ran off once more.

**XXXXX FLASHBACK OVER XXXXX**

He was surrounded. They were all shinobi, their forehead protectors proudly bearing the Konoha symbol. Their rancid breath stank of alcohol and their expressions were twisted into triumphant sneers. In short, they were stereotypical drunken men with their thirst for blood and violence magnified a bit.

"We all heard of what happened, demon-spawn…" one of them sneered menacingly, slowly licking the blade of a kunai grasped firmly in his hand.

Naruto's eyes widened a little. The man looked to be a chunin, with the common brown hair and brown eyes of most of the villagers. Naruto could tell his rank because jounins, even if they were absolutely drunk, had a certain stance to their body, more like a ninja. Chunins were not quite so… elegant. But screw all that. The most important things Naruto noticed were the man's blood shot eyes, his hair tied into a messy loose ponytail, and the fact that the man recognized him. It was his bodyguard, Taichi, also known as Idiot-san.

"My kids saw it… Your cursed eyes were turning red as you were glaring at them!" One of the men screamed down at the little boy in a voice caught between absolute panic and absolute antipathy.

"We shouldn't have put so much trust in Hokage-sama! It's time… YOU DIE!" Five men charged at the small boy as the boy eyes shut tightly.

**~xXx~**

Jiraiya sighed in contentment. It was the time. After many years, he had finally finished his newest novel, 'Icha Icha Paradise,' He had a feeling that this one would launch him to stardom. Why, even the pouring rain wouldn't crush his spirits right no-

_CRASH_

A small kid bumped straight into him. He looked scared, and was breathing harshly. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. Where were this brat's parents and why would he be let out as such an hour? And besides, what kind of a kid bumps into someone on a deserted street?

The kid looked up at him, his red eyes widening in recognition under the blue cap he wore. _From the Yuhi clan? _Jiraiya mused silently.

"Jiraiya-sama!" the kid exclaimed in awe. Jiraiya felt a large grin form on his face. Ah, so even the brats of Konoha have heard of the great toad sannin?

"Jiraiya-sama…. Boy… blood…. Screaming….." the kid babbled in a panicked voice. The grin faltered a bit as Jiraiya took an actual look at him. The kid was probably around 5 years old, and wearing a blue cap over black hair and red eyes. With his wide eyes, and ragged breath, he looked like a genin after his first kill.

"Speak up, gaki," Jiraiya said firmly, placing his hands over the kid's trembling shoulders.

"There's…" the kid said, his voice shaky with fear and terror. "B-back near the marketplace alleys… There was a boy my age… He was getting b-beat up by drunken villagers! _Blood_… _everywhere_…" Jiraiya felt the beginnings of unease in him. Drunken villagers? A _boy_…?

"What was his hair color? Tell me!" Jiraiya demanded frantically, his dark brown eyes hardening as he looked straight into the kid's large fear-filled crimson eyes.

"I-I'm not sure… But I think it was a bright yellow..." the boy trailed off, his voice still shaky.

The kid yelped in shock as Jiraiya disappeared in a sudden gust of wind. His tearful red eyes followed the quickly retreating figure. After a few seconds, the kid straightened up, his breathing suddenly becoming normal again. His once frightened eyes were shadowed in the cap he wore. It was as though he was an entirely different person, much older and well-versed in the world of pain.

With a sudden rush of speed impossible for one his age, he slammed a fist into the wall next to him, the stone crumbling easily under the assault, leaving a bare hole. With that, he disappeared in a gust of wind, the leaves that flew up with the sudden airstream instantly being pummeled back to the ground by the heavy downpour.

**~xXx~**

**Fear. Dread. Trepidation. Panic. Pain. Hopelessness. Despondency. Anxiety. Pain. Despair. Pain.**

But most of all, there was pain.

He wasn't very fond of the color red. It reminded him of way too many things during his childhood, all of them absolutely unpleasant. Memories of the agonizing sound of blades ripping through flesh, sadistic smirks seen through hazy eyes, lonely minutes, days, nights, years…

No, he did not like the color red. Yet it defined him. It covered him.

If there was a list of memories he could never forget, numbering one to how many there were, which he had a lot and one being the memory he never could forget but wish to forget the most, this one would be number one.

The sudden overflow of blood choked on his throat and Naruto coughed out blood from his mouth as much as he could. They surrounded him, their eyes full of satisfaction. It used to be ignorance, hidden contempt, but now…. They really wanted to kill him.

He was strung up on his hands onto the wall by kunai, the blade so sharp, it dug into his hands with his every movement like a cruel parody of the crucifix. Bruises littered his small body, too small for a child his age, and his hair was matted with so much blood that it was hard to distinguish the original sunny yellow from the red. The once white shirt was tattered, revealing shiny raw burns on his shoulders and arms, and was stained with so much blood that no more white could be seen under the sea of blood.

A single deep slash went through his ribs, deep enough to show the white bones gleaming in the moonlight. Some of the broken ends and flesh were blackened black and burnt so that he wouldn't bleed to death before he got the full wrath of the villagers. Naruto was breathing shallowly, his life leaving him with every exhale.

"This. Is. For. My. SISTER!" Drawing a short kunai that gleamed wickedly in the moonlight, another man advanced on the hanged Naruto and slowly began peeling the skin off his fingers, one by one, a grimy hand muffling his screams.

"Not so powerful, now, ARE YOU?" Spit hit his face and trailed down his dirty cheeks, mingling with the blood and tears.

"Hahahahaha, look at the abomination bleed!"

Naruto looked up, his brilliant blue eyes, the only color other than red on the child, staring unblinking at them. A uniform shiver went through the drunken men, suddenly sobering them for a moment. Those clear eyes were full of pain and despair, a sin to have on a child, especially not on a child who was barely five years of age.

"You know what…?" Naruto said slowly, as if realizing something. Abomination…. Demon spawn…. A near nonexistent crack appeared in his cheerful mask. For the first time, despair wrecked through him like wildfire, the hated looks, the agony of every word, every whisper…. A quiet but heartbreaking, hysterical laugh bubbled up in him, startling the men.

Blue…

"If everybody hated me…. Loathed me… Rejected me…." Naruto spoke under his breath, too low for the drunken ninjas to catch them.

He was only five years old. Did other children his age have a life like his? No, a kid his age wasn't supposed to live alone, taking care of himself. A kid his age wasn't supposed to have seventeen murder attempts on his life for the past year. Why the secrecy? Why the hatred?

What the hell _was_ he, anyway?

_Red…_

"…Why….. Why did I even exist in the first place?"

**_Black._**

**~ xXx ~**

Sickening. That was the first word that came to Jiraiya. No, it wasn't a war zone, no, it wasn't a torture chamber… But it might have just as well been one. In actuality, the scene in front of him was a fucking typical night out for the Konoha villagers.

"NARUTO!" Jiraiya screamed in horror. Anger. And Guilt. Just what did he leave here in Konoha? Just what kind of a life did Minato leave his son to? Killer intent drove out of him in a one vicious course, leaving the drunken men frozen in fear, some pissing their pants. _Good. _With a speed known only to a sannin, Jiraiya viciously attacked them, a perfect rasengan in each hand, mercifully only at half power, and launched the terrified drunks into the walls with a sickening crunch.

Tears came unbidden in his eyes as he glared with complete fury at the fallen drunks.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE ALL DOING?" Jiraiya screamed, losing his composure completely. "YOU FUCKI-" Jiraiya stopped, gritting his teeth, chakra pulsing out of him in waves, most likely alerting the Hokage. He turned his head, fearful of what he was going to see.

Naruto… _Naruto _was still pinned to the wall, the blood dripping down the wall like rain. His head was leaning into his chest, and it looked like as if….

"Narut-" Jiraiya started in panic, racing over there.

Naruto's face snapped upward and Jiraiya saw dark red, almost black eyes staring back at him. They were deep voids, eyes of the dead. Suddenly, red slits of lighter shade appeared in those dark pupils.

"**GET. AWAY. HUMAN." **said a menacing deep voice that obviously didn't belong to Naruto. A burst of red chakra pulsed through the alley, the deep evil and sickening feeling of it warning him to stay back. For a brief heartbeat, Jiraiya stood there, staring with unease at those strange eyes.

Pain exploded on Jiraiya's body as unexpected cuts slashed through his arms and body. He got knocked cleanly off his feet as something or some things attacked him. Landing hard against a wall with a pained grunt, he was starting to get up again when a cool metallic _something _hovered close to his jugular, the sharp edge pressed so hard that it drew blood.

Something like fear swelled up inside Jiraiya as he made a startling realization. Whatever pressed against his neck, and those other things that attacked him… He couldn't _see_ them.

Was it the kyuubi? Or was it Naruto himself?

He slowly puts up his hands as a gesture of peace and the eyes continued staring at him warily but then they widened slightly in recognition.

"…**Jiraiya," **the voice murmured before the dark reddish black color faded from Naruto's still dark eyes, a dark navy blue replacing it, getting lighter into the usual deep cerulean blue. Then Naruto's bloodied head slumped forward once more, falling unconscious.

**~xXx~**

Sandaime was at his office, trying to concentrate on the paperwork to no avail. His thoughts were on Naruto who was lying in the hospital. Jiraiya, covered in cuts and blood, had barged into the office just an hour ago, dispatching all the ANBU guards on the way, and said bluntly,

"Naruto's in the hospital. Villagers were attacking him, hanging him to the wall…." here he gritted his teeth, forcing the words out. "by kunai dug into his hands. He's in a comatose state." Jiraiya's face turned stony as he glared hatefully at his sensei who had long dropped his cigar pipe in shock. "We'll talk later, but right now… I'm going to see my godson."

With one last look, he turned around, and left, slamming the door so hard, cracks appeared in the corners.

Sandaime buried his face in his hands. Naruto. He had underestimated the hatred of the villagers. What exactly had Naruto been through his life? What could he do to help him? Right now, nothing. No one was willing to adopt Naruto, except maybe for Kakashi, but he was in ANBU and was a teenager. With missions and his inexperience, he wasn't suitable for parenthood. The counsel was already demanding a death sentence over the kyuubi's chakra pulse that was felt through nearly the entire village. He had already pressed charges for assault against the drunken villagers who were handed over to Ibiki. But as for Naruto… Sandaime's head rose up quickly as he got an idea.

Sandaime raised his left hand and two ANBU immediately popped into his office, giving him a respectful bow. "Find Karasu and bring him here. Tell him he is needed on a solo S-rank mission."

The two ANBU nodded but one, Wolf, stayed behind. He appeared to be struggling for what to do, before finally collapsing onto a chair. Wolf slowly took off his mask, a gesture meaning that he was serious enough to break the ANBU code of never showing the identity. The blank face of Hatake Kakashi was revealed as he adjusted it to the side of his head.

"How's Naruto, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, the despair evident through his voice and how tight his grip was on the armrest.

Sandaime sighed, lighting his pipe again. "He's in the hospital right now. Jiraiya should be there with him." Kakashi nodded slowly, still not quite believing what has happened. "He'll live. But if it wasn't for the kyuubi's chakra, I doubt that he would've survived this." he added.

Kakashi just nodded again, pausing as he considered the Sandaime's weary expression, before bowing and leaving through the window, the only evidence of his anger being the prominent burn marks on the armrests of the chair he had just sat on, still smoking from the chakra he had accidentally released.

Sandaime stared out of the window, looking down at his village. Naruto is only five years old. Those ignorant villagers were blinded by hate and their loss. It was simply a wonder how Naruto was able to keep smiling despite the antipathy directed toward him and his loneliness. The Hokage knew that Naruto's life and his future rested with Karasu.

"Hokage-sama. Karasu reporting for the S-rank mission." said a monotonous voice behind him.

Sandaime turned slowly. Karasu was an ANBU, still fresh as he had only taken three missions so far. His pale emotionless mask had black painted on it to look like a grotesque crow, intimidating and cold, yet it had an elegant air to it. He was only around 5' but it was actually quite tall considering his rather young age.

"Take off your mask, Itachi-kun, this is an undercover mission. You must tell nobody about this, I am trusting you with my life…"

"Hokage-sama?" Itachi said in slight shock, adjusting his mask to the side of his head, revealing a young face with long hair tide in a short ponytail and long ebony bangs covering his dark onyx eyes.

"What do you think of Uzumaki Naruto, Itachi-kun?"

"The jinchuuriki boy?" Itachi questioned politely as he raised an eyebrow slightly. "Other than that mild chakra surge from before, which has a sound reason behind it, I don't see how Uzumaki-san could be considered a 'demon'." he finished before looking up at the Sandaime blankly, although anyone who knew the Uchiha prodigy very well would have seen the puzzlement in his eyes, the slight, nearly nonexistent confusion and questioning look that resided in the deep onyx.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Sarutobi said with a small chuckle.

Itachi widened his eyes a fraction. Somehow, that small chuckle was more intimidating than even his Kaa-san's glare.

What has he just gotten himself into?

**~ xXx ~**

Taichi shivered in the cold as he limped towards his apartment. It wasn't fair. What did he do to deserve an interrogation with Ibiki of all people? Another shiver wrecked his body, this time in fear. The man wasn't human, that was for sure. He could still feel the effects from that frightening figure of the man's last technique, his limping leg sending him waves of pain.

A 10,000 ryo fine. This was preposterous. Ibiki had looked like he wanted to give more but thank kami for the council. They said that his actions were justified and wasn't much of a major offence.

He only wanted to kill the demon. It was high time, after all. The demon had always called him Idiot-san and mocked him at every chance he got. Plus, the brat had finally shown his real self – a fatal mistake. Why did Hokage-sama let him live anyways, even when he did reveal those cursed red eyes of his? The seal was slipping, that was for sure, yet how was he still alive? Yondaime was a powerful Hokage, yes, he admired and still admires the brilliant and powerful young blond Hokage, but he knew the Hokage shouldn't have put so much trust in the seal. Maybe _he_ shouldn't have toyed with that little demon for so long.

And Jiraiya-sama had to stop him too? The man must've gone mental after those long years away from Konoha. I mean, his team mate was that missing nin, Orochimaru, he had to have rubbed off of him.

After nearly tripping over his own feet from the pain for nearly the twelfth time, Taichi sighed before heading towards the hospital for some more painkillers.

The sight of the hospital made him widen his eyes in surprise for on top of the roof was a man with a guitar. Cliché? Maybe. But why he would be near the hospital made him wonder. Usually, the man would be at the roof on top of the little demon's apartment and he would sometimes chat with him when he was done with the demon.

At first, he thought that the man came to that particular roof because he had sympathy for him, the unfortunate bodyguard of the demon spawn, but he wasn't quite so sure anymore. Then why would be at the hospital and not there instead?

Overcome by curiosity, the chunin walked up there and approached the man. The mysterious man was wearing that all black outfit he always wore when he saw him, complete with a black cloak completely obscuring his face.

When he talked, he had the deep voice customary of ANBU. You see, ANBU members had voice changing chips on their masks to protect their identity. It was suspicious but he really didn't care. If the man wanted to kill the demon, he certainly wouldn't object.

The only time he would actually let out his real voice was when he sang. And sing he did, nearly every night, accompanied by his beautiful acoustic guitar. The man was talented, that was for sure, and the man was practically the only distraction he had during the detestable nights he spent guarding the demon brat.

Taichi sat next to the man who gave no movements of noticing his presence, too focused on playing a song. It was a lullaby, soft yet melancholic, and he was humming to it. Taichi smiled a bit, his angry rants about the demon in his head fading away as he calmed down. Even during the times he was playing above the rooftops of the demon's apartment, he always played lullabies for some unknown reason.

The music ended and the man tilted his head in Taichi's direction.

"Good evening," he greeted, absentmindedly plucking a few notes. Taichi nodded, waving a lazy gesture back at him. "Any reason you're here?"

"I'd say the same to you," Taichi shot back, leaning back against the hospital rooftops, inclining his head towards his companion.

The man fully turned his head towards Taichi. "I change places, sometimes," he answered quietly, still plucking a few strings.

"Needed painkillers," Taichi answered as well and winced as a fresh wave of pain alerted him to his real reason of being here. He ignored it, he never missed a chat with the man: he was a very intriguing guy. "I was in a….. interrogation with Ibiki, don't ask." He sighed. "You wouldn't mind playing a song, wouldn't ya?"

The man whipped up his head at the mention of Ibiki but cracked his knuckles at the question. "Hmmm…. Why not?"

Soon, the low but echoing sounds of him strumming his guitar filled the night, his sweet and low, but quiet tenor voice somehow managing to be heard above the guitar.

**Change…. Everything you are  
Everything you were  
Your number has been called…..**

**Fights and battles have begun  
…Revenge will surely come  
Your hard times are ahead**

**Best… You got to be the best  
You got to change the world  
And use this chance to be heard**

**Your time is now…..**

The music suddenly stopped, and Taichi felt a small amount of disappointment. Muse was one of his favorite bands and when it was sung by that man, well, it was just simply a pure genius. If that man ever quit ANBU, that is, if he is in ANBU, he would have made a very rich musician.

"Gotta go," the man grunted softly, adjusting his guitar to his back. "Busy and all," Taichi grunted in agreement.

"I know what you mean, guarding that demon spawn is as frustrating as anything can get." Taichi grumbled loudly. "The pay was practically the only reason I did it."

"…ly come,"

"What was that?" Taichi called out to the retreating figure on the rooftops. The man didn't pause but instead kept walking away.

"Revenge will surely come," the man repeated in a quiet voice, bordering on being eerie. For some indiscernible reason, that laconic sentence sent a chill down his spine. A little bit intimidated, Taichi made the mistake of looking up at him, finding the man somehow towering over him with his hood facing him even though Taichi hadn't heard the man move at all, and the sight made his blood run cold.

The mysterious man and Taichi kept meeting at night times. Taichi was fired as the bodyguard and was replaced by an ANBU, but he did stop to visit every once in a while as he loved the man's songs. But he never did look at the man in the eye again for they were cold as ice and simply unforgettable. He wondered how eyes could become like that, like as though the entire world had turned against it. He never dared to ask him though, ask about the story behind him: the mere thought of them sent shivers down his spine.

_Frighteningly cold blue eyes._

* * *

**Phew. I kept getting distracted with the main events that will happen later on (at least a dozen chapters ahead) and strayed off this chapter. But anyways, here it is. I hope you guys liked this story enough to stick with me until the next chapter comes out.**

**There will be more plot twists as the story progresses and I will try to delve into further character studies. If you guys have have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me via reviews, private messages, or my email jade (dot) wylkyns (dot) the (dot) great (at) gmail (dot) com (I just wrote it in this format because FanFiction doesn't allow me to post anything remotely close to an address) as long as it's not flames or anything.**

**By the way, I have couple ways that this story can go and I would like you to vote on the poll on my profile. It's actually just choosing between the numbers, each number standing for different path the story can take. Of course, I won't tell you the four plots but after it has been decided and I wrote the chapter concerning the plot twist, you can send me a message if you want to see what the other three possible ways were.**

**If you are interested in being my beta, just let me know.**

**Review!**

**- Jade**


	3. Chapter 2: Kano

**Yo, I'm back again with the second chapter of Memento mori. This is once again the revised version of chapter 2 of aSTRAY because, seriously, it's gonna be the same plot line anyways (I mean, just for this chapter). However, you're in luck. I'm going to twist something in the next chapter to fit my version of aSTRAY and from there, you'll see a different storyline unfolding before you. I just hope you guys will like it. Unfortunately, even though all the clouds have silver linings, they also have the storm as well. Since I will be basically writing out the entire thing (except just couple parts that absolutely coincides with the original), it will probably take me much longer to finish up. But then again, every good things come with a price, don't they?**

**Anyways, I just want to let you know that there is still a spot open for a beta reader. You guys probably all know what I'm looking for in a beta but just to remind you if you guys already forgot them, here it is. I like to have my chapters nearly perfect, if not perfect. However, I don't want just a person who knows how to correct spelling or grammar mistakes. I want someone who will give me feedbacks and some ideas to bounce off from. Also, I want my beta to be an experienced writer (since I'm not) who can make my chapters sound more fluid. The beta must be willing to correct beyond just basic mistakes like changing the sentence form, or rewriting a paragraph if it doesn't make sense. Yes, I know I'm asking for a lot but that's what I'm looking for. Just PM me or post some reviews if you're willing for the position.**

**Also, don't forget to visit my profile for the poll. I ********have couple ways that this story can go and I would like you to vote on the poll on my profile. It's actually just choosing between the numbers, each number standing for different path the story can take. Of course, I won't tell you the four plots but after it has been decided and I wrote the chapter concerning the plot twist, you can send me a message if you want to see what the other three possible ways were.**

**Thanks guys.**

**- Jade**

* * *

**Memento mori Chapter 2: Kano**

* * *

"_The past is the past… and the future is the future. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. I am who I am, and you are who you are. Like it really matters anyway…" _-Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)

* * *

**II**

* * *

_The 5 gates… To me, they were part of my mind, nothing more. But they were more important than just that. It's just exactly like what I said. They were part of my mind, locked forever and left abandoned until I broke free. And it was only then, when I could truthfully say that I could go to the deepest parts of my mind, that I could venture beyond that. Beyond deepest recess of my mind. But what exactly is after the mind? That's not important right now. But they will be._

_If you are smart, you will have noticed the shadow that lay behind my sunny mask. Don't be fooled by my seemingly innocence. Why? That is because I don't trust you, the reader of this book, to know everything yet. But as an act of trust, as the pretense of confidence, I'll give you a taste of my past… And of my future._

_-Naruto_

* * *

**~xXx~**

…_.Where.. Am I?_

Naruto opened his eyes, and what he saw wasn't exactly what he expected. He was in a sewer like hallway, with water sloshing around his knees._(A/N It is suppose to be at his ankles but he's only five years old and he's short :P) _The creepiest thing about the place was the walls; the darkest shade of midnight black, cracked and peeling at myriads of places like paint that was pasted little too chunkily. A thick red substance that looked suspiciously very much like blood, oozed down from the walls, only to dry up inexplicably just before it reached the murky waters below. The wall itself had numerous pipes of three colors, colored blue, red, and black, traveling above it. They looked opaque but it was not so as the dark colors rushing inside it in frenzied waves could be seen by Naruto's eyes. The colors, it seemed, lit up the hall in a dim, light purple tint that gave an ominous feeling. Looking up, Naruto noticed that the wall went as high as he could see as it went deep into the darkness to be enveloped by the portentous shadows.

All in all, the place had a dark and intimidating miasma around it. _His mind. _Naruto, with a jolt, somehow realized that he was in his mind and was shocked. This wasn't exactly what he thought his mind would look like.

Despite his taut nerves, Naruto bravely waded through the dark water, continuing down the gloomy hallway. He kept silent as he walked, unwilling to be the one to break the silence that hung heavily in the air, the only sound being the disturbed water echoing in the dark hall. It seemed like forever yet it was only seconds later when the hall split into different directions.

Now, Naruto had no idea what to do. The hall had split into five different ways, but it seemed like as if there were large menacing chains on three of them, leaving him with only two choices.

The right one at 3:00 was, for the lack of better words, intimidating. It was bathed in a reddish glow which seemed to pulse just like a heartbeat, except this was a low pulse that sent slight pressure waves through the stale air. Naruto sweat dropped as he looked at it and had to take a moment to steady himself before looking at the other open way, hoping it wasn't worse.

The other open path at 9:00 was long and straight, and looked completely ordinary. Well, it was other than the fact that it seemed to be calling to him. When he took a small hesitant step towards it, encouraging whispers filled his ears, and although he couldn't understand what the meep they were saying, he knew that they were telling him to follow the path and felt a strange pull towards it. It was as though something was tugging at his body, his legs trying to move against the will of their owner.

Which to choose? Left or right? Good or evil? The choice of which path he would take would decide his destiny forever… Okay, that was a bit melodramatic, but _seriously. _The path with freaky whispering voices in his ears, or the one bathed in a blood red glow, pulsing like it was alive. Naruto sighed with frustration at his unpleasant dilemma.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto turned left towards the hallway with the voices, hoping to whatever God that existed in the shinobi world, that he made the right choice, painless one at least.

Trudging down the dismal hallway was easier than he expected. All he had to do was tune out the quiet voices and the path didn't seem half-bad. Whistling a low tune that just popped into his head to drown out the voices, he plodded along, only to falter slightly when he recognized the tune. It was a lullaby. Soft yet melancholic…

**XXXXX FLASHBACK START XXXXX**

I was stupid at that age. Stupid enough to believe everything they said. Stupid enough to believe that it would get better, that my entire life was just a stupid, stupid nightmare.

Back then, at that time, I still had my innocence. My childish curiosity.

Waking up in the middle of the night was normal. I mean, I guess it became normal, since I was an insomniac. I never did tell oji-san about it, he never knew that my nightmares happened every night. It would just have needlessly worried him and it wasn't like my insomnia was going to hurt me or anything.

People always wants to live their dreams, to live in their world of imagination. I got mine in a twisted way. If I always dreamt of blood, of pain, of ignorance, and if the same thing happened when I was awake as well, then, of course, I'm living my dreams, aren't I?

Like I said, I was stupid. A stupid 4 year old. One who cried every night, wishing to every single star in the night sky for something, just for anything to happen that was completely different from my world. Now, I know better. I know that a God won't help me. I know that crying is just a waste of your tears. It doesn't help: it just makes you more depressed than you were before. I only had myself, and myself only. That was when that I learned to look beneath the words, to rake up the secret feelings that people hid behind their everyday mask.

I guess it was around that time that I bought a knife. It wasn't anything special, just a normal kunai from a second-hand store that was nicer to me than others. I guess I was fascinated about it, fascinated about how the blood that dripped down my arms contrasted so smoothly against my skin. The pain was just a small price to the beauty of the colors. In fact, the pain was relishing. It helped me forget about my troubles. It helped me feel in control of my life, at least some part of it. As I drew pretty lines across my arm, I felt the rush of power surging through me. It was a declaration that those stupid villagers couldn't control me: I controlled my own life. I became addicted to the pain and soon, it became normal, just like my insomnia. It became normal enough that I took it to the next level. Oji-san would have been proud. I spelled my first word that day:

**D.**

**E.**

**M.**

**O.**

**N.**

Words were harder to do then a single line: it's like trying to draw a perfect circle on the wall using a nail. You may be wondering, why, though? Why words? Wasn't it more painful? Didn't it leave scars? Didn't it leave scars that would probably stay there for the rest of your life, constantly reminding you of your stupidity? I did it for one reason and one reason only.

Childish curiosity, remember?

But then, the 'anything' I had wished for happened. It was in the middle of the night, the moonlight peering onto the bed through the cracked window. I was praying to myself, to the good heavens above me, as I traced the engraved letters I created earlier that day, the same thing that I always prayed. _Please, just something, just anything, happen._ At that moment, the most random thing happened. Someone was playing a guitar. Whoever it was, he or she was really good, the notes plucked expertly. The first song he or she played was always that same lullaby, so delicately beautiful and the most heartbreaking lullaby.

I never listened to the other songs that person played, if he or she even had any. I was fast asleep by that time.

If I was still awake at that time, I would have noticed that my kunai was missing. But strangely enough, I never noticed its absence after I slept that night. For the first time in days, I might add. And in fact, I never realized it until much later on, years later on.

That anonymous musician with a strange fetish for moonlight guitar playing was probably the key to my humanity back then at that age. Sometimes, I wondered why he would play on the roof of my apartment of all places. _Maybe…_ I had then thought. Maybe he was there because he knew what others didn't. Maybe he knew that I was sinking into a depression that was hidden from everybody else behind my ever sunny mask. Then, my curiosity would act up again I wondered who the mysterious person was. In fact, there were countless times during the night that I had argued with myself whether or not to go up there to meet him.

But then the music would play and I would just fall fast asleep before that thought even ended. And you know what? I actually think he did that on purpose.

**XXXXX FLASHBACK END XXXXX**

It was only after a few seconds that Naruto realized with a slight surprise what he was looking at. Scrawled out over his left arm was the same scar he had engraved on himself, on his own skin. _Demon. _Long white bandages, the ones usually wrapped around his arm to hide the scar, had fluttered lazily to the ground, floating on top of the murky water. He wasn't sure when it had came off, for he didn't remember even slightly tugging on the white bandages, but it was there, its long white ribbons making a shape of a laughing mouth.

Naruto remembered when he had done it. It was the first time he had really noticed his healing factor, the way the both superficial and quite deep cuts just seemed to close right in front of his eyes. He was obsessed with the pain and kept digging into his skin over and over and over again until the scar had finally became permanent. Now, it was the only testimony to his childhood, the only visible scar proof of his stupidity.

'…_do you have what we seek?'_

Just then, straight in front of him, Naruto saw something move, startling him out of his thoughts. He blinked furiously, trying to locate it again, with no luck. Naruto made a choking sound of surprise as the deep dark space a few meters ahead of him glowed suddenly with a dark yet warm light, somehow contrasting to the despairing blackness around him, diverting his attention. It pulsated, but unlike the one that he felt before, but like the slow heartbeat of a sleeping child, a steady glow that basked Naruto in a kind of warmth.

At that split second, the voices suddenly grew louder, echoing loudly in Naruto's ears and nearly made him buckle his knees.

'_If I was only there faste-'_

'_-protect your precio-'_

'_-been nice, k-'_

'_Get the hell off he-'_

'_I can't te-'_

'_-mi-san will have a shit about thi-'_

'_-mile for yourself-'_

"SHUT UP!" Naruto shouted, his hands clutching at his ears. Miraculously, for indiscernible reasons, the whispers stopped, leaving a dead silence in the room. Naruto looked around with a dubious look, still disbelieving that that had actually worked.

The breath got caught in his throat as a blade found its way to his throat, appearing there fast as lightning. Or at least, he thinks it was a blade. The only thing he saw was the hilt out of the corner of his eye. Despite the urgency of the situation, he couldn't help but admire the work in awe: the ornate hilt was of a silvery grey color, shimmering like the moonlight in the low glow of the light. Thin but strong vine-like threads of silver wound its way up the invisible blade in an intricate pattern while two long ribbons of what looked like pure black silk gracefully fell down from the base of the hilt, completing the look.

Naruto was pulled out of his admiring by gentle voices, the words caressing into his ear, much different from the loud echoes from before, as if it was trying to compensate for his protest earlier. The blade acted otherwise though as it dug deeper into his skin, drawing a bead of blood that soon began to find its way down his throat, the gravity winning the fight.

'…_do you have what we seek?'_

**~xXx~**

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Jiraiya's left eye twitched every second as he stared anxiously at the small unmoving figure in the white hospital bed. It had already been two days since that fated night and he had practically never left the young boy's side, not even for peeking at the new hot spring that had just opened up couple days ago.

….Okay, that was pushing it, but still, if Tsunade saw how the mighty Jiraiya has fallen to one of an anxious, fretful mother, she's be laughing her butt off, and what a sexy butt that was too.

Naruto's breath hitched a bit and his eyebrows furrowed in pain, catching the older man's attention. Jiraiya sighed, going deeper into a depressed slump, and stared blankly at his godson's blonde head that was so much like his father's.

Jiraiya got up slowly from the bedside stretching out all the kinks that settled in his joints during his bedside vigil. All of this pessimistic thinking was really going to get back at him one day but he was fine just as long as it wouldn't be wrinkles. Giving an involuntary yawn, Jiraiya staggered to the room door, intent on getting some strong dark coffee.

He was sauntering over to the cafeteria when he passed through the medication desks. His eyebrows raised up a notch as he recognized the person standing in front of it. Could it be..?

"Dammit, I just need some more painkillers! Lost the last bottle yesterday," called the exasperated voice of Taichi from the front desk. Oh yes, he was going to enjoy this.

Quick as a flash, Jiraiya appeared behind Taichi, who froze in fear due to a rather sharp-looking kunai directed at his crotch.

"Hellooo, Taichi-san, remember me?" Jiraiya whispered in his ear with a little slur at his greeting, a crazy glint appearing in his dark eyes. Taichi yelped in terror before fainting straight away, a distinct dark patch forming on his pants. Jiraiya blatantly ignored the shocked look of the hospital clerk and shook his head in disappointment as he rolled his eyes. _This_ was a Konoha chunin? He was almost too disgusted to even use chakra to finish him off….

_Almost._

'_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!' _Jiraiya said mentally as he bit his finger and with practiced ease, he quickly formed the hand seals before slamming it on to the ground, intricate seals snaking its way through the floor from his hands.

Poof. A bright yellow frog roughly the size of Jiraiya appeared. He waved lazily at Jiraiya with a webbed hand before he looked down at the sprawled unconscious form lying down beside him and looked back up at his summoner with obvious amusement.

He cheekily gave Jiraiya a jaunty one-armed salute before sticking out his tongue and wrapped it roughly around the unconscious body, exceedingly careful not to touch the pants. The hospital nurses looked at the scene with a stupefied expression as the toad slowly spun in full circles, gaining momentum with every spin. Without warning, he let go of the body in a mid-spin and Taichi crash through a wall with a loud smashing sound, sailing away into the horizon.

Jiraiya shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand as he gazed at the quickly disappearing dot in the sky with a happy sigh of contentment before resuming his brisk walk to the front of the cafeteria line, dispatching the summon frog simultaneously. The people he had just cut were smart enough not to protest.

"One black coffee, please!" Jiraiya said cheerfully, slamming some coins onto the front counter.

The cashier took one look at the crumbling wall and another at the tall grinning sannin, before dashing away to fill his order, forgetting the coins on the counter.

Later, rejuvenated by the caffeine, Jiraiya stretched and headed back to the cafeteria line, intent on getting some onigiri on the way, the half finished coffee held loosely in one hand. Being wide awake was such a wonderful thing for it gave him optimism. The sun was shining, albeit through the hole in the wall, the birds were chirping, and who knows? Maybe Naruto would wake up tod-

CRASH!

A small red blur suddenly crashed into his backside and with a silent cry of dismay, Jiraiya watched horror as his coffee fell out of his grasp, crashing down onto the floor with a rather loud thump.

Jiraiya turned around, a seed of irritation sprouting in his mind at the interruption of his optimism, and was about to give the stranger a piece of his mind when his eyes widened in recognition.

"YOU!"

"Oh! Jiraiya-sama!"

Sprawled on the ground, grinning ear to ear, was the same boy Jiraiya had bumped into two days ago on that night, still wearing that familiar blue cap over his spiky black hair. The boy bowed low, his cap nearly touching the ground.

"Gomen! Gomen! You see, I wasn't watching where I was going, actually I do that a lot." he chatted animatedly, still facing the ground. "Why yesterday, I bumped into Kaa-san while doing the laundry, and- oh! Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya turned away briskly, trying to escape the babbling boy. With a groan, he realized that the boy was following him, the boy quite literally skipping to keep pace. Suddenly, the kid's legs got tangled together somehow and he let out a yelp as he crashed into the floor rather comically. Eyebrows raised, Jiraiya glanced at the laughing boy- _laughing_, he was actually laughing!- before resuming on his way, trying to hide an amused smile in his hand.

Jiraiya had no idea why the unknown kid made him worry. After he got Naruto all taken care of, he had wondered if the kid had managed to get home safely. That night, he looked scared shitless, his crimson red eyes wide with fear. It was probably his first time seeing so much blood… Now, it seemed that he was back to his real self, though Jiraiya wasn't quite so sure if that was a good thing or not.

The two waited in the cafeteria line, for Jiraiya had finally remembered that cutting in lines was BAD, in a peaceful silence…. Just as soon that thought ended, the boy began shifting from right to left, humming a cheerful tune. Desperate to shut him up,- as the boy was getting adoring looks from the nurses- Jiraiya asked him the first question that popped in his head.

"Oi, gaki. What exactly are you doing in a hospital?" Jiraiya asked.

The 'gaki' spun around energetically on his heels before giving Jiraiya a happy thumbs up. "I'm visiting Naruto-kun!"

Jiraiya looked at the kid in a new light, genuinely happy that Naruto had a good friend like him. Well, that is, as long as his overloaded amount of hyperness didn't rub off of Naruto… A hyper Naruto, combined with his above average amount of endurance, would be a total nightmare… But still, the kid seemed like a good person, a good friend, Naruto hasn't had a single visitor apart from himself and Saruto-

_I mean I haven't met him before, but he seems like a nice guy!_ Well, that thought just went down the drain.

Just then, the duo reached the counter and as Jiraiya began to think of what kind of onigiri he would get, he asked the boy another question that kept puzzling him from the moment the boy had answered his first one.

"If you're visiting Naruto…" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes dubiously. "What are you doing in the cafeteria?"

The boy blushed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he gave Jiraiya a wide grin – so wide that the older man wondered how the boy's mouth didn't tear. "Well, I rushed here this morning and skipped breakfast." With that reply, he sauntered up beside Jiraiya, standing on his tips of his toes to peer over the counter. Suddenly, he gave a loud exclaim of surprise.

"Sugoi! They have FIVE different flavors of ramen here!" The boy ecstatically jumped up and down in pure joy, before turning to the cashier lady who was looking at the cheerful boy with hearts in her eyes. "Ano… Two bowls of your finest chicken-no, _pork_-no, miso ramen please, Cashier Lady-san!"

He dug deep into his pockets, before opening his hands, revealing…. Lint. The boy stared blankly at his hand before looking up at Jiraiya, his red eyes sparkling in a sudden light.

Jiraiya's eyes twitched, his eyes averted. But even man cannot withstand the puppy eyes that the kid gave and he half-heartedly gave the boy a few coins. The cashier lady happily accepted the coins before handing over the two steaming bowls of ramen.

Jiraiya stared in astonishment at the sheer size of the bowls. Each one was about the size of the boy's head, all completely filled save for an inch at the top. How was he going to finish two?

"Do you really think you can finish two, gaki?" Jiraiya exclaimed, voicing his thoughts out loud.

"No way, Jiraiya-sama! One is for me, and one is for Naruto-kun, because, ya know, he just woke up,"

"_WHAT?"_

Jiraiya sped off in the direction of Naruto's room, leaving the boy with a sense of déjà vu at seeing the quickly retreating figure. The smell of the ramen soon distracted him though and he took a delicate sip at the broth.

"Nyaa, it's still hot,"

**~xXx~**

Jiraiya opened the door with an audible creak, and poked his head inside. His heart sank though when he saw Naruto flinch at seeing him but he masked it with a large smile.

"Ano…. I think I remember you, you saved me, ne?" Naruto pressed. "Arigatou, mister, umm…"

Jiraiya sat down heavily onto the chair beside the bed, running a hand through his shaggy white hair. Best get it over with now than later on. He stared nervously at the tiled floor.

"I'm… your godfather."

At seeing Naruto's blank look, Jiraiya mentally panicked, a ranting of terror rising up inside his head at what the young blond boy's reaction might be, getting louder and louder by seconds. What was he, stupid? He just had to be blunt, didn't he?

"I see, what's your name?" Naruto asked calmly, his head tilting slightly to his right, making his gravity-defying spikes slightly sag due to the change in weight balance.

Whatever Jiraiya expected, it wasn't that. He whipped his head around to meet Naruto's curious blue eyes, shocked that there wasn't a single bit of hatred nor resentment in them.

"Aren't you… mad?" Jiraiya gaped in shock. "I mean… You've had the shittiest childhood in your life, your supposed guardian came only after _five years, _and all you can say is _what's your name?" _he babbled. "I'm probably the worst fuckin' godfather in the world, I've ignored you, I've failed your father and-"

If Naruto was shocked at his swear words, he didn't show it. He just smiled genuinely and interrupted Jiraiya in his mid-babble. "Uh, I can tell by your au – I mean, your speech thing – that you're feeling guilty about it. It's okay, really! It wasn't th-that bad. Ano, you must've had a reason for not being there." _For me._

Jiraiya could hear the underlying words in that sentence and the stutter at the end really didn't help the squirming in his stomach. Nevertheless, he gave a shaky grin at Naruto which was returned instantly tenfold.

"My name is Jiraiya," he grinned, deciding to leave out the 'other titles.' Besides, with the way Naruto had just nodded only in response, he most likely had never heard of him anyway, Jiraiya added mentally with a disappointed sigh.

"Soo…" Naruto began, looking at his newly proclaimed Godfather. "You said something about my father, right? What was he like?"

Although slightly panicked at the question in his head, Jiraiya chuckled enthusiastically. "Your father… He was really a cool guy to hang out with. He had this air of respect around him yet somehow could put you at ease at the same time. He was cheerful nearly 24/7 and had this infectious grin so much like yours."

Naruto had a stunned look on his face at the last part, just to break into a genuine smile. "Really?" he asked excitedly, his blue eyes twinkling in absolute enthusiasm.

"Yeah. In fact, you share a lot of his qualities," Jiraiya laughed exhilaratingly. "You even have the same love of ramen that he did."

Naruto smiled briefly before he looked at Jiraiya in confusion, his large eyes narrowing slightly with puzzlement. "How did you know that?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I actually know a lot about you," Jiraiya confessed, looking up at the ceiling. "I asked Sarutobi, you know, the Sandaime Hokage, to tell me all about you. He'd send me letters every week, so I'd know what's happening back here. I know your likes and dislikes, how tall you're getting, and about that horrible orange suit you wear all the time."

"Hey! I happen to like orange!" Naruto shouted indignantly and huffed playfully.

Jiraiya laughed at the pout on his face, which Naruto soon joined into a few seconds later. After their laughter died out, there was a pause of silence, before Naruto asked another question, this one much quieter.

"How did… they die?" The young blond child looked so insecure and unsure as he asked carefully, his blue orbs looking up to meet the older man's much darker eyes.

Jiraiya looked back at his godson, wondering how to answer that. That question had probably haunted Naruto for years. He must have wondered at some point in his life why he was an orphan. Did they die in battle? Or did they leave him willingly, too cowardly to take care of a child? Jiraiya decided to tell him the truth, or at least a part of it.

"It was during the kyuubi invasion five years ago… Your mother…. She died very soon following the childbirth and your father managed to just get to see you just before he joined the battle. His body was never found." Jiraiya smiled sadly, looking at Naruto and remembering his favorite student. "They were really excited about you… When they found out that they were going to have a son, your mother was screaming so loudly that it could be heard all the way across the Konoha. She was hugging your father and dancing with joy."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya in silence before breaking out in a slowly but surely forming smile, engraving those words to his memory. His parents hadn't abandoned him – no, they were happy to have a son, happy to have a family. For the first time, Naruto felt proud of his parents, glad that his parents were _his_ parents.

Naruto was just about to ask another question when there was a knock at the door. Of all the people that it could have been, he really didn't expect a boy wearing a blue cap he had never met before to come in. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gave a dramatic gasp of surprise at seeing what the boy was holding: ramen!

The boy waved energetically at Naruto, nearly dropping the ramen bowls in the process. He gestured frantically to the bowls and an amused Jiraiya took them from him just as the boy collapsed onto the ground.

"Whew! Do you know how heavy those things are? And I still had to walk EXTRA carefully so that I wouldn't spill." he huffed in annoyance before grinning largely at Naruto.

"Hi, Naruto-kun, how are you today?" The boy asked cheerfully, his vermilion red eyes twinkling in happiness.

At seeing Naruto's confused expression, Jiraiya rolled his eyes before introducing them to each other. "Naruto, this is the gaki that told me where to find you. Naruto, this is…" Jiraiya paused, before looking at the kid. "Wait… What's your name again, kid?"

The kid smiled slyly under the blue cap he wore before he piped up. "Sorry, Kaa-san said not to talk to strangers!" he said playfully, sticking his tongue out at Jiraiya.

"Hey, what happened to Jiraiya-sama!"

"Gomen, gomen. But Kaa-san said that all old people are strangers, even if they seem nice to you," The boy replied, putting on an innocent façade that looked so real, but Jiraiya knew better. The kid's eyes gave him away, the mischievous twinkle that sparked the orb. "She said, and I quote, old men are horny, drunk, and perverted bastards."

Jiraiya stared down at him. Well, he couldn't compete with that logic. Sighing, he checked the time and with a jolt, he realized he was almost late for a meeting with Sarutobi. Jiraiya gave Naruto one last ruffle on his head, ignoring the blond boy's protests.

"I gotta go for a bit, kid. But I'll come back, okay?"

Naruto nodded and Jiraiya disappeared in a whirl of leaves, leaving the two kids together.

"How are you feeling, ne?" The kid said, bouncing towards the chair Jiraiya had previously occupied. Naruto simply blinked at the boy's hyperness before answering the question.

"Actually," Naruto said, stretching his arms. "I hardly feel a thing." The kid, if it was possible, smiled wider, and Naruto was surprised at the genuine relief he felt from him.

"So anyway," Naruto began curiously, his eyes wide with interest. "Why are you here? I mean, thanks and all for helping me from before… but I really hardly even know you."

The kid leaned back into his chair, dramatically stroking an imaginary beard on his chin. "Truthfully, all I could think about the entire day was about the blood, the sickening sounds of knives cutting through you, the smell of burnt flesh…." he answered quietly, his eyes in a faraway expression. Naruto shivered – he could practically feel the despair pulsing out from the boy in waves. Not to mention that his fairly descriptive words brought back unpleasant memories, very unpleasant memories. There appeared to be much more to the bubbly boy than it seemed. (2)

"I HAD to make sure you were okay, or else my mind would've gone crazy," he continued, spinning the chair to meet Naruto's eyes. Red met blue. For the first time, Naruto saw the deep seriousness in those eyes and for just one moment, just for a moment, he felt something black,_completely black_, from the boy, but it was gone a split second later, leaving Naruto to wonder what the heck it was about.

Suddenly, the kid smiled cheerfully and the serious moment was gone. "Well, at first I just wanted to check in and say hi, but you seem like a cool guy." He paused before widening his eyes. "Hey, that rhymed!"

"Wait…" Naruto began slowly in both awe and shock. "You want to be friends or something….?" The kid bobbed his head as an answer. Trying to hide the warm feeling slowly developing in his chest, Naruto laughed rather sheepishly. "Truthfully… I've never exactly had a friend before…." He trailed off, unsure of the red-eyed kid's reaction.

Instead of looking at him with a pitying look, as Naruto feared him to do, he just aaahed loudly before saying, "WEEELLLL, it starts like this." He jumped enthusiastically out of his chair in front of Naruto, surprising the blond boy.

"The name's Kano!" The boy exclaimed loudly as he reached out a hand. Naruto hesitated for a split second before grasping it firmly with his bandaged hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" replied Naruto with a mischievous grin. The two remained there, still shaking hands, until Kano glanced over at the two steaming bowls lying on the table beside him.

"Want a ramen eating contest?"

**~xXx~**

"Ah, Jiraiya, you're finally here."

Leaping out from the shadows, Jiraiya scowled, and said, "Hey, I'm only late because the gaki finally woke up." Ignoring the chair, he leaned against the wall, closely watching the Hokage.

Although Sarutobi smiled at the news, there was still an air of tiredness around him. The attack must have hit him really hard – it must have been hard to learn that the very people he was protecting attacking a little boy. It was either that or the paperwork has been stacking up again.

"So, Jiraiya, what would make you announce a meeting with me?" Sarutobi questioned nonchalantly, lighting his pipe with a fire jutsu.

"It's about what happened two days ago."

Sarutobi leaned into his desk, staring at Jiraiya's posture; his hands folded over his chest, a frown on his face. The sannin was dead serious. "Continue," Sarutobi said slowly.

Jiraiya exhaled loudly before closing his eyes, clearly reluctant about talking about whatever it was that he was going to talk about. "It… happened just right after I found Naruto. After I drove away the attackers, I tried to approach him, but then… his eyes opened."

Jiraiya opened his eyes, staring straight at Sarutobi but not quite meeting the confused eyes of the Hokage, but instead staring off into the distance, seeing something that wasn't really there. "They were black. Not entirely black but more like a sort of dark, dark red. Truthfully, they scared the hell out of me – it was like looking into the darkness at the bottom of a well. At first, I thought that the Kyuubi had possessed him because they had the demon's pupils in them."

Jiraiya rolled up a sleeve, revealing some bandages. "Did you ever wonder why I arrived at your office all cut up? When I approached Naruto, the Kyuubi's voice warned me to stay away and he forced me back with his chakra. I didn't even sense the attack when cuts appeared all over me. The strangest thing was that I could feel them, the cold metal of the blade slicing my arms open, the knife pressed against my throat…. But I couldn't sense them… Dammit, I couldn't see them at all."

Sarutobi's eyes were grave. "Was it the Kyuubi's doing?" he asked in a whisper.

"I don't think so," Jiraiya answered slowly, and his eyes widened as he continued. "When the attack happened, the slits weren't there – there was only the dark red. As Naruto was falling back into unconsciousness, the slits disappeared before the dark red, meaning…."

"A doujutsu," Sarutobi breathed, his eyes wide with shock.

"That's what I thought too," Jiraiya said grimly. "This could cause a serious panic attack on the village if this gets out. If the villagers find out that the jinchuuriki also has a bloodline limit, they'll become fearful about his new power."

"I see what you mean," Sarutobi said, rubbing his temples as he felt the headache rise up. "The manipulation and creation of invisible blades? Not to mention that there might be more secrets to the bloodline. People will be lining up to adopt him into their clans and enemy villages will surely want his bloodline too."

"A repeat of the Hyuuga kidnapping incident," Jiraiya added with a frustrated sigh. The two fell into silence, each in their own thoughts. Jiraiya stood up abruptly.

"I'll take care of Naruto," Jiraiya said suddenly.

"You know you can't do that, Jiraiya," Sarutobi reprieved. "A child five years of age cannot be taken care of by a sannin ninja traveling the lands for leads for Orochimaru. It's too dangerous."

"It's dangerous here too!" Jiraiya vehemently shot back, collapsing against the wall.

"Jiraiya…" Sarutobi said gently. "You know that you're the only reason why Orochimaru hasn't gained much power through these years. You've been stopping his every move for the past half a decade. What are we going to do if you just suddenly quit? You have an important mission to do,_you know that_."

Jiraiya snarled before banging his fist into the wall, making a dent in the wall. "I told him I was his godfather." Sarutobi's eyes widened. "How am I going to tell him that I have to leave, _again_?"

Sarutobi's eyes grew weary as his heart broke over his student's obvious misery. "Maybe… Maybe if we just told the village the truth about Naruto's past…"

Jiraiya's head shot up quickly. "No. Telling the village about Minato's secret will only make it worse. You and I know that…." Jiraiya sunk to his knees against the wall and closed his eyes.

_Naruto, you have no idea exactly how much you are like your father…_

**~ xXx ~**

**XXXXX FLASHBACK START XXXXX**

"This is all my fault…" Minato whispered mournfully, his voice muffled by the hands covering his face. "I'm the worst father in the world…."

Jiraiya settled down beside his student, his heart breaking at seeing his ever cheerful pupil finally break down. It has been three days… _Three days_since the assassination. Since Minato's son, his pride and joy, was killed by rogue nins.

He could still remember it vividly. It was around 4 o'clock in the morning when rogue nins had suddenly attacked the Namikaze residence. They were both just finishing dispatching the few outside the grounds when a scream pierced the air. Minato had gone deathly pale and literally disappeared, faster than a bolt of lightning, towards the house with Jiraiya at his heels.

They arrived at his room just in time to see his face. That young five-year-old face with an expression of sheer terror in his innocent blue eyes stared at them in fear before his head exploded in a burst of blood and gore, the small body collapsing like a broken doll.

Minato had frozen for a single second, just one _single _second… before the world turned straight into hell. He screamed like a wounded animal before throwing five shuriken at the attacker simultaneously, viciously hitting him the arms, ribcage, and straight into his still laughing face, killing him instantly.

The rest of them had no chance. Minato was still screaming himself hoarse, slashing left and right, blood slicing out from their throats at a perfect ninety degree angle, some left twisted and barely alive, with only with the upper half of their bodies, left to die a slow and painful death. Screams were heard by the entire village.

It was only four minutes later, when the rain washed every trace of life left from the home, when Minato was left standing in the middle of the living room, caked in blood, and surrounded by mutilated carcasses… When only the silence of the rain was heard, the screams at last fading away….

It was only then, that he started to cry.

"Jiraiya-sensei…" Minato's dead voice whispered hoarsely, breaking Jiraiya out of his thoughts. "The ANBU…. They found this… lying with one of the bodies…" He held out a headband, and Jiraiya's breathe got caught in his throat. Chiseled into the metal plate on the front of the forehead protector was the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Rock.

"I know we're at war right now…." he stated numbly, staring at his hands. "I know I shouldn't be feeling this but…."

Minato looked up at Jiraiya and the older man saw those brilliant cerulean eyes, once filled with laughter and a carefree air, now hardening. If Jiraiya the rest of Minato's face was in his plain view, he would've sworn that they were from a different person for those eyes were cold and merciless, eyes that had finally tasted the bitterness of loss.

"I swear… I'm going to kill every last one of those bastards for what they did…" Minato said slowly, staring up at Jiraiya like as though he wasn't there. "Not even when they are begging for mercy… I'm going to kill every fucking one of them."

There was a reason why the Hidden Rock held a grudge against the Yellow Flash. Why every parent was told to kill their child if they had blonde hair and blue eyes. For who could not remember that last battle between the Hidden Rock and the Hidden Leaf when the Yellow Flash had single-handedly decimated an entire army in the span of a second?

Few knew that Minato had insisted on going alone. And even fewer knew that he gave a heartbreaking ghost of a smile after the last of them died. But only one knew that each of those rock ninjas were decapitated in a most gruesome manner, their heads rolling on the muddy grass, their expressions frozen in one of sheer terror. That person was Jiraiya himself who had burnt the bodies only seconds after the Hidden Rock had surrendered to the war.

It was only years later that Minato finally let go of the past and gave his heart to another woman, that he had another son. But this time, he refused to take any chances. The wedding was held in secret and the boy… The boy was given the surname Uzumaki, the surname of his mother, to prevent the tragedy from ever happening again.

It was such a cruel twist of fate, that even with all his precautions, even with all the secrets, that his youngest son still managed to have a painful life, burdened by the hatred of the same villagers Minato had given his life for, believing that they would look up to his young orphaned son as a hero of their village.

Uzumaki Naruto, the most pure and innocent boy with a very painful past, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the unknown son of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, that was what he was. It was just another mockery of the humanity that he never knew any of these at all, not a single one of them.

**XXXXX FLASHBACK END XXXXX**

**~ xXx ~**

* * *

**There might be some mistakes in the chapter but just please bear with me. Right now is 2 o'clock in the morning and I just wanted to post up the chapter as fast as I can. Oh, by the way, I'm still in need of a beta. If anyone's interested in the position, just please let me know.**

**I also posted just a small little thing about Kano to clear some things out. Some of you might be confused as to who Kano is or how he looks like (Despite my constant portrayal of, some people might just miss it... Somehow). Well, here it is.**

* * *

**Kano:**

Age: 4

Eye Color: Red (like Kurenai's)

Hair: Black, slightly spiky, but not by much. It is short, but covers his ears, slightly like Sai's, but a little longer and spikier.

Height: let's just say he's slightly shorter than Naruto.

Appearance:

Because he is an orphan, he wears slightly worn clothes, mostly in the colors red, blue, white, and yellow. Right now, he is wearing a red and white striped t-shirt with baggy black shorts. He constantly wears a blue cap similar to the one Yuki from Fruits Basket wore as a child. It partially hides his red eyes.

He wears brown sandals.

* * *

(1) - I can imagine this paragraph so well in my head, and it makes me laugh every time. Man, what wouldn't I give to actually enter this story (Despite its rather gloomy feeling - besides, I like gloomy things. They stimulate your nerves, well, it does mine anyways). I would have really loved to actually watch this scene unfold.

(2) - You may be wondering what I meant by Naruto feeling Kano's despair but that'll be explained fully in the next chapter. For those who read the original aSTRAY, you already know what it is.

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**I hope you enjoyed this chapter… I certainly did hehehe. There's quite a lot of talking so I'm thinking of adding more action in the next chapter.**

**Yes, I know that Jiraiya used to leave Naruto before in the anime but in here, he had seen first hand what Naruto had experienced so now, he doesn't want to leave.**

**Hope you liked the bit about Naruto's past. He wasn't very all-accepting about it at first as you guys probably remember from both the anime and the manga and I wanted to explore just a little bit on that.**

**I hope you also liked the rather angst-filled Minato thing. I always wondered why no one told Naruto who his real father was even when he became old enough to not babble mindlessly about it. I mean, just because of assasins? Oh ple-ez. since Naruto is Minato's son, the frickin' HOKAGE's son, ANBU can obviously guard him day and night then! I just don't think that it was much of an excuse so… there you go.**

**Yeah, I added the 'older son who died after an assasination' part to make the reason more better, y'know? Besides, no one talks about the dark side to Minato. I mean, there's gotta be something dark about that ever sunny Fourth Hokage that everyone practically worships!**

**Once again... See you next chapter. Please review!**

**- Jade**


	4. Chapter 3: What's Wrong?

**Yo. Jade is back with another chapter. I'm sorry for taking so long to write/upload this but there just was too much things going on in my life… and still is.**

**For one, I have SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test) tomorrow – well, I guess you can say today because it's like 2:15 right now – and I've been studying a bit, though I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to totally flunk it. And that's now all. I had tons of homework and like ten thousand essays – okay, maybe not _ten thousand_ but you get the point – and projects after projects after projects. My continuous sports aren't much of a help either. Lacrosse and swimming along with violin are practically ruling my life. GAH!**

**Anyways, I'm really glad that I got into this honors orchestra! I got the result today and I found out that I got FIRST violin of the higher orchestra! YAY!**

**Oh yeah, and just like I promised last time, I changed the plot from the original aSTRAY like a LOT. Well, the plot of the first part is pretty much the same but it changes significantly as the chapter goes on. I really hope you guys will like this new plot twist!**

**Another thing, as I mentioned in my earlier chapters, I'm looking for a beta reader (yes, sadly no one has volunteered yet...). What I'm looking for is still the same but I'll just write it here anyways. ********I like to have my chapters nearly perfect, if not perfect. However, I don't want just a person who knows how to correct spelling or grammar mistakes. I want someone who will give me feedbacks and some ideas to bounce off from. Also, I want my beta to be an experienced writer (since I'm not) who can make my chapters sound more fluid. The beta must be willing to correct beyond just basic mistakes like changing the sentence form or rewriting a paragraph if it doesn't make sense. Yes, I know I'm asking for a lot but that's what I'm looking for. Just PM me or post some reviews if you're willing for the position.**

**Enough with this babbling. Enjoy!**

**- Jade**

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(1) Karasu means crow in Japanese

(2) A tantō , a short sword, is a common Japanese single- or double-edged knife or dagger with a blade length of between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches, or in Japanese, one shaku). The tantō was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well.

**

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Chapter 3: What's Wrong?**

"_Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and they stink,"_

**III**

_Karasu, my bodyguard. He was weird, always silent and gloomy. How stereotypical of an Uchiha. I don't know how I didn't see it before. But Karasu is more than a stereotype. As you'll soon learn, he has loyalty far surpassing most of the shinobi. Loyalty usually only found in a Hokage. Because a Hokage would willingly sacrifice his life for the village. Karasu has done that and much more._

_Sometimes I wonder what would happen if he wasn't as loyal. If he was more power hungry and more willing to do anything for that power. But I'd scoff and dismiss that idea. Because an evil Karasu is just not Karasu anymore. The only chance of that happening is if he became mentally insane after his first A-rank assassination mission. I'm surprised he hasn't cracked at that time. He was 5 years old._

_And Kano? He's just weird._

_-Naruto_

**~ xXx ~**

S-rank missions. Danger was nearly 100%. Most if not all shinobi coming back from those near fatal missions, which wasn't very many, came back wounded or exhausted. Recommend for at least three jounins or a team of ANBU.

When Karasu (1) had gotten his first S-rank mission, he really didn't expected to be inconspicuously handing upside down outside a hospital window watching two kids eating ramen like there was no tomorrow.

Suddenly, he was alerted to a high amount of chakra rapidly heading in his charge's direction. His tanto (2) was out in a flash, and Karasu stood there with all muscles tense as chilling, glowing red eyes stared out of the crow mask, searching through the oblivious civilians. After a stiff moment of silence, he relaxed, sheathing his blade just as a white blur landed beside him.

"Karasu," Jiraiya greeted stiffly, crouched upside down beside him

Karasu felt a small amount of nervous respect as he nodded humbly back at him. Right beside him was the Toad sannin, one of the three legendary sannin of Konoha, the students of the Hokage himself. And right now that sannin was glaring at him openly, sizing him up in the familiar way an overprotective mother glares at the babysitter.

_Nerve-wracking._

A small tilt of his head of Jiraiya's head was the only thing he displayed to show his apparent approval. Karasu let out a breath he had been unknowingly holding and Jiraiya chuckled amusedly.

"I'm late as it is, there's been an info leak on my… the enemy, and I have to leave," the Sannin started.

Karasu nodded in understanding and looked at the white haired sannin sitting beside his smaller frame.

"If Naruto has any plans on being a ninja, give him these scrolls," Jiraiya continued, before handing the ANBU guard three medium-sized red scrolls. Karasu instantly noticed a small note attached indiscreetly on the largest one, his client's words scrawled on the front.

Karasu lifted his eyes up when he heard the Toad sannin chuckle and looked into the window just in time to see the ramen the two kids were previously eating get accidentally knock down, spilling the semi-hot broth onto the hospital sheets.

He glanced at Jiraiya and saw him staring intently at the laughing boy with the blue cap, trying and failing to mop the mess up.

"The gaki with the red eyes, keep an eye out for him," Jiraiya spoke suddenly. "Although I can't sense a henge, there's just something… odd about his chakra." he added with a thoughtful look on his face. Karasu nodded again, taking the warning to memory.

"Oh, and Karasu," Jiraiya whispered dramatically, his serious eyes staring deep into crimson eyes of Karasu. "Remember, Naruto isn't supposed to know that he has a guard. Protect him inconspicuously. I'm counting on you." And with that, Jiraiya disappears in a puff of smoke.

It had been only just a couple hours after that short meeting and Karasu was taking his mission seriously. After all, even if he was only protecting the jinchuuriki from random minor villager attacks, it was still his first S-rank mission.

He had already inconspicuously given his client the scrolls, silently dropping it while the two boys were too distracted with the 'ramen contest.' He had watched his client's expression reading the note, going from puzzlement, to his shock, a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

Now hidden among the leaves, Karasu watched the two kids, huddling next to each other in the training grounds, whispering suspiciously. Now, if only they were facing his way instead of turning their backs to him, he could have read their lips.

Karasu mentally sighed and the corners of his eyes twitched as Kano smacked Naruto on the head with a loud bonk. This was going to be a long mission.

**~ xXx ~**

_Dear Naruto,_

_I'm sorry but I had to make an emergency leave. Do you remember when you said that I must've had a reason to leave? I do. My old team mate and now S-class missing nin, is doing freak experiments and tests to try and get stronger, and eventually take over Konoha. I'm trying to stop him._

_I'm sorry I couldn't say good-bye to your face. Guess your godfather's a real coward. I could say sorry again and again but there's not a lot of room on this napkin I'm writing on._

_Included with this note are ninja scrolls for taijutsu, and basic ninjutsu/genjutsu theories along with 3000 ryo. If you are anything like your father, you'd want to be a ninja. Good luck._

_Here's the important part: Naruto, you have a bloodline. It is one of the most dangerous I've ever seen so I want you to train with it. Train so you wouldn't accidentally killed someone. Yes, that happens. I'm researching as to how you have one, but as of now, I'm guessing it's through the Uzumaki clan from your mother's side. However, until I discover more about it, do not tell ANYONE you have a bloodline except for those you really trust. A bloodline this powerful could cause the Fourth Shinobi War. I hope you understand._

_Lo-er,_

_See you kid, Jiraiya._

Naruto felt a small smile form on his face. It was a strange feeling, to actually have a guardian looking after him, even if through a letter. Not that he didn't like it, of course.

Suddenly, the meaning of those hit him like a jackhammer. He had a _bloodline_. This had to explain the strange voices and the floating sword in his mind. It explained the way he had, one day, sliced an apple without a blade. Once, he had an apple with him but didn't have a knife with him. Frowning in frustration, he stared intently into the apple, pondering how he will cut it when the apple suddenly split cleanly in half like as if an invisible blade had sliced right through it. He was shocked, who wouldn't have been? But he just dismissed it after thinking about it and failing to come up with a plausible explanation.

An invisible blade….? Wait, what the hell?

"Uhh, Naruto-kun? Are you okay?" Kano questioned, repeatedly poking Naruto's shocked face.

Naruto hesitated. He had only known Kano for one day. Could he tell him the secret? Kano was only four and toddlers were known to babble a lot.

But was he really four years old? Naruto recalled the many conversations he had with the little blue hat wearing kid. The way he had described the villagers beating him up was so… gruesome. Despite his bubbly appearance, Kano used grammar – and vocabulary – beyond his years.

Wait, there was one thing he could do. After that night, that bloody night, he had woken up seeing a swirl of colors around him. It took him a while to adjust, and even longer to figure out that he could actually turn off the strange vision. He couldn't help but to flinch when Jiraiya poked his head into his room, the dizzying swirl of dark green, yellow, blue, and black-grey had bombarded him then. Recalling emotions of anxiousness, relief, and guilt nearly made him sick.

There was only one explanation for this: he could _'see' _people's emotional auras. What was the word for this... an empath? But... Maybe if he could use that ability to look into Kano's aura, he might be able to see if he was trustworthy enough.

Kano looked at Naruto in confusion as the blond squinted back at him, his blue eyes slowly smoldering with black red wisps slowly covered his eyes.

Yellow… Happiness. Kano seemed really happy to be hanging out with him. A light silver grey…. Naruto mentally smiled. Loyalty, Kano really wanted to be Naruto's friend and had already grown attached to him.

Naruto's eyes furrowed as he saw another color swirling rapidly in the middle of Kano's aura, separated from all the rest as though it was encased in a barrier of a kind. He dug deeper, trying to spot it among the other colors. Finally reaching it, Naruto gaped in shock. _Black._

_Smoke, everywhere. It blinded my already blurry vision, but I didn't care. I was leaping though the trees…. I was so close. _So close… _I had to make it in leap later, I arrived in a clearing. Trees were toppled down, mercifully hiding the many corpses lying underneath. The evil, bloodthirsty miasma of a red chakra hung heavily over the area, nearly buckling my eyes darted upwards. A single ninja, the last among the one hundred dead reinforcements, bravely trying to defend the village. I lifted my head and saw tails, numerous tails, swirling unconsciously behind it. The orange fur, cloaked with the same demon red chakra: menacing, and foul. The head of an ominous fox with long ears and a bloodthirsty grin. I stared grimly into the red eyes, the eyes with color of blood, its pupils slitted like a cat._

_The grin widened.**"Ho-"**_

"NARUTO!"

The blonde blinked as the he crashed down to the real world, his ears ringing from the sudden yell. His heart raced: What was that? What did he just _see_?

"Uh, yeah, Kano-chan?" Naruto said absentmindedly, trying to clear his head with no avail.

Kano shivered. "Do NOT call me Kano-chan!" he said fiercely, trying to look intimidating but only managing to look even cuter. Naruto smiled. Whatever that was, it didn't matter.

"Kano-ch, I mean, Kano-k… You know what? Can I just call you Kano?" Naruto said in exasperation, huffing.

Kano smiled under his cap, though it turned out more like a grimace. "Okay, as long as you don't space out while I'm talking." he huffed.

"Okay, because I gotta tell you a secret," Naruto said in a seriously tone, beckoning Kano to come closer. Intrigued, Kano complied, plopping down beside him. Taking a deep breath, Naruto whispered in the crimson-eyed boy's ear. "Well, I have a bloodline."

Kano's child-like eyes widened significantly. He opened his mouth to say something but Naruto quickly covered it with a hand, making Kano mock-glare at him with a small pout.

"It's supposed to be a secret," Naruto said with a dead serious voice, shaking a finger at the younger boy and narrowing his eyes. "Can you keep it?" Kano nodded, excitement gleaming in his red eyes.

The second Naruto's hand came away from Kano's mouth, the younger boy blurted out, "Can you tell me about it?"

Naruto complied with an uncharacteristic thoughtful look on his face. "I don't know a lot but I'll tell you what I DO know. I can create invisible blades and use it like kunai of a sort. When I do that, my eyes turn into dark red color. Also, I obtain another sense, like sight or smell, but I only see the emotional auras of people."

Kano gaped in awe at his friend. "That's so cool! Is that why we're at the training grounds? To train?" Naruto nodded slowly and Kano paused, a confused expression on his face.

"Wait, does that mean you want to be a ninja?" Kano questioned, tilting his head slightly to his right.

Naruto nodded vigorously with a painfully wide grin on his face. "I'm going to be a Hokage one day." he declared proudly.

Kano nodded. "But why?" The boy asked.

Caught off guard, Naruto paused before answering. That was the thing with Kano; sometimes he didn't react the way you would expect.

"I want to be Hokage so that people would finally recognize me! So that they would fina-ITAI!"

Kano smacked him on the head with an audible sound, an uncharacteristic serious expression on his face. "That is a childish dream." He stated. "Being Hokage just for that reason is selfish. A Hokage is chosen, yes, for his power, but also for his selflessness. He has the responsibility to look after the entire village. To look after them, _protect them._Just like the f-fourth.. Like the fourth Hokage, who sacrificed his life for the safety of his village! Are you willing to do the same thing in the future?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, struck dumb by Kano's accusations. Now that he thought about it, was his dream really that childish? Was he being selfish, wanting to be Hokage just for some respect?

_Was he willing to protect the same people who rejected his entire existence?_

Naruto hesitated, before nodding. An unreadable emotion formed in Kano's bright red eyes, before the younger boy smiled suddenly and said, "Well, Naruto-kun, then I'll help you."

It was a strange sight, Itachi reasoned, seeing a five-year-old instructing a kid a year older than him on ninja training. The two friends seemed to have reached a sort of silent agreement: Kano would train Naruto and in return the blond haired boy would swallow his pride for following someone a whole year younger than him. The younger boy pushed Naruto, making him do laps rivaling Gai's amount, an eccentric chunin that he had heard of who is obsessed with training and his little quirks, even on standard shinobi training like tree climbing and water walking.

When Naruto asked how the hell Kano had known these things, the latter just vaguely replied, "Kaa-san (_A/N: Kaa-san means mom_) taught me,"

The excuse was so unlikely that Naruto absolutely knew it for sure that it was a lie. However, he knew that Kano must have a good reason for lying though so didn't push it. Itachi on the other hand became even more suspicious but without solid proof, he couldn't really do anything.

A few weeks later, Naruto had, with the help of his new 'sensei', mastered tree climbing and water walking, being able to do it like it was second nature due to the rigorous training and the perfectionist standard Kano demanded that Naruto reach in order to go on to the next step.

"Okay!" Kano declared cheerfully as soon as Naruto was done with his thirty laps around Konoha.

Exhausted, and sprawled out on the ground, the blond boy gave a weak glare towards his grinning friend. The said friend gave him a thumbs up similar to Maito Gai's, a freakishly cheerful one accompanied by a huge grin that Itachi had the fortune to see only once, and handed the panting blond some water.

"We worked on your endurance and your chakra control so now, I think we can finally work on your," Kano paused, before crouching low his eyes darting around before stage-whispering melodramatically, "bloodline limit."

"Riiiighttt," Naruto replied sarcastically, catching his breath and putting it under control as he staggered upright. In a split second, he concentrated his chakra into his eyes and the clear cerulean blue turned into a dead dark red that seemed to glow with an unsettling otherworldly gleam.

Naruto nodded to Kano and the next second, Kano took out multiple banana cream pies from the small black bag he had brought with him and began flinging multiple of the pies into the air, Naruto's eyebrows furrowing as he concentrated. Suddenly, two of the five pies in the air sliced cleanly in half while the others were being hit only on the tips or not at all. Gritting his teeth, Naruto waved an arm upwards and the last pie exploded in a rip of cream and tinfoil before he plopped down onto the ground in exhaustion.

Currently watching the curious duo was Karasu, or Itachi should we say, a slightly bemused expression on his face behind his crow mask as he watched their antics. Having heard the duo's previous conversation – he wasn't ANBU and an elite assassin for nothing after all – he deduced that Naruto had some kind of special bloodline that allows him to invisibly cut things or something along that line. However, the thing that really puzzled him was how the younger boy knew to bring those pies. After, the boy couldn't have known the schedule of the day or what Naruto was going to tell him… right? Unfortunately, the five aerial projectiles that were coming his way in an agonizing slow motion broke his thoughts.

With horror, Itachi's brilliant mind processed two things. One, he realized that the aerial projectiles were the remaining banana cream pies in the air and two, he was currently crouching on a large thicket of bushes with the dead leaves underneath him and the large leaves above him prevented him from moving without alerting his client to his position. Jiraiya's stern talk flashed in his mind.

.…He was screwed.

Karasu shut his eyes as five banana cream pies splattered on his face with an unpleasant squelch.

Naruto and Kano sniggered at the faint splat of pie heard from afar. Naruto had noticed it just a few days ago when he was testing his new vision. He saw an aura coming from the trees behind him, a faint aura but aura alright, and deduced the only logical conclusion he could come up with. It was his bodyguard. Sandaime oji-san had told him that he had a bodyguard since Jiraiya couldn't look after him but didn't tell him who. So far, his guard had managed to stay out of their sight and Kano and Naruto were getting slightly annoyed and curious that he hasn't shown his face yet. They were determined to bring him out. Plus, Naruto has never tried to throw a pie in an ANBU's face before.

In short, the two had known that he was there in from the beginning.

After a few more banana cream pies later, a small brown bird came swooping around the duo before landing on Kano's head. Unperturbed, Kano happily stroked its golden brown feathers before taking a small scroll from its beak.

Kano frowned as he read it, the skin between his eyes scrunching up and his crimson eyes gleaming with a light that Naruto couldn't quite place his finger on. Suddenly, he snapped the scroll back into place and gave it back to the bird who gave a quick nod before flying away.

"Sorry, Naruto!" Kano apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Kaa-san is expecting me back home." He paused before whispering in Naruto's ear. "Good luck on Guard-san."

Kano straightened up quickly. "See you later, Naruto!" He turned his head toward the trees in the general direction of Karasu as he ran off and shouted loudly. "BYE GUARD-SAN!"

**~ xXx ~**

They… knew?

_"Oh, and Karasu," Jiraiya whispered dramatically, his serious eyes staring deep into crimson eyes of Karasu.__"Remember, Naruto isn't supposed to know that he has a guard. Protect him inconspicuously. I'm counting on you." And with that, Jiraiya disappears in a puff of smoke._

Oh, he was pissed.

**~ xXx ~**

It was night time and Naruto was bored. Kano had taught him the beginning katas of a taijutsu called Dance of the Dragon Child which relied on a small frame and quick reflexes, speed, and endurance. Luckily, Naruto had all of those requirements.

Training wasn't supposed to be boring. Going through the first form, he gained speed as he got used to it but he just wasn't into it as of the moment.

He stopped for a breather, looking up at the sky out the window. It was raining and the quiet pitter patter of the rain hitting the rooftops was the only sound that permeated through the empty apartment. After being with a chatty person like Kano, the silence afterwards, something he used to be accustomed to, seemed so _lonely._

Lost in his thoughts, Naruto made some ramen, slurping the warm noodles absentmindedly. The sturdy rain outside kept on growing steadier, as Naruto concluded from the growing loudness, until it quite literally pounded against the roof. _Geez. Wonder why they decided to call deluge of rain as 'raining cats and dogs',_ Naruto thought sarcastically.

Naruto's thoughts strayed to his guard who was probably sitting on a tree outside in the rain, most likely getting soaked and pretty cold as well.

"Guard-san, do you want to come inside?" Naruto called curiously out the window, sticking his head out into the downpour and drenching his normally spiky hair with rain, thus making it stick to his face. There was silence.

He didn't know why he just snapped but when he didn't hear any reply, a tick mark appeared on his forehead. Maybe it was because he was ignored for so long. Maybe it was just that he was feeling so lonely. Naruto didn't care why. The said blond boy slammed open the door, stormed outside, and set on the first, and only, big log he could see through the downpour outside in the rain.

"Hey, Guard-san," Naruto grinned largely despite the numbing cold that was clawing at him. "If you don't come out here, I'm going to stay out here… But hey, aren't you supposed to take care of me?"

Karasu's eyes twitched as he watched the blond child waiting stubbornly outside in the rain. He'll play his game….

After over four hours, Itachi was beginning to become worried. Naruto hasn't moved from his spot. How curious was his client? His stubbornness could rival his otouto's (_A/N: Otouto means little brother_). With that little thought, a small hidden smile formed behind the emotionless mask he wore nearly every moment of his life. It quickly disappeared as soon as it came.

Naruto sneezed, his teeth chattering as he glared up at the faint green-ish grey aura in the woods. He slowly got up, aware of the painful numbness in his legs.

"I'm going to stay out here forever until you get here, dattebayo!" Naruto called out energetically. Suddenly, he staggered as his knees buckled under him. Naruto grimaced as he realized he was quickly losing consciousness.

"Good-bye cruel world," Naruto whispered sarcastically. The last thing he felt before succumbing to the darkness was a pair of sturdy arms holding him up.

Karasu silently carried his client back into the house. The boy was really light, even abnormally so. _And deathly cold_, Karasu thought, a bit of concern rising up from the deep abyss of his mind that he had shoved all his emotions – well, nearly all – for as long as he could remember. After drying him off and tucking his shivering client firmly into the blankets, Karasu just stared blankly at his now softly snoring client, sitting in a chair by the boy's bedside..

Of all the missions he had, it had been a very long while since he had a babysitting mission and that was way before when he was a genin. Even as a genin, he never did much of babysitting mission because the council was too busy making the maximum use of him – meaning, those seemingly suicide solo and team missions. He really didn't have any idea of what he was suppose to do in this situation.

Karasu noticed a soaked bandage on the sleeping boy's arm and slowly removed it, expecting some kind of wound. Staring at the scar, an unfamiliar emotion welled up inside Itachi. Sympathy. It was an emotion Karasu had always squashed, even more so than the others, removing it to the furthest corners of his mind. He was trained to not feel but yet, this child had made them reappear again.

"_Demon_…" Karasu whispered, tracing the scar numbly. "How are you still alive?"

Suddenly, Karasu heard soft mellifluous music above near the rooftops. Slightly wary, Karasu went to investigate but what he saw was not at all what he expected.

Sure, Taichi-san had reported an enigma musician coming on top of Naruto's apartment to play songs but he really didn't expect it to be true. Yet, there he was, strumming his guitar despite the chilly rain pouring down his guitar and clothes. Actually, he seemed to have some kind of covering over his guitar and his huge cloak seemed to ward off most of the rain… but still…. Karasu could see wet strands of hair poking out from under the person's black hood but it was too dark to see the color.

"Sharingan," Karasu whispered (_A/N: Yes, Itachi can use Sharingan without saying the name but right now, he's only ten and he's not THAT_ _good with his Sharingan despite having 'mastered' it by age eight_) and red eyes glowed from beneath the crow mask, staring at the mysterious man's frame. There was nothing unusual, albeit some off color marks on his limbs, but that could've passed as an old battle wound or skin disease.

Not one to be willingly in the rain, Karasu retreated back inside silently, not noticing the chilly blue eyes humorlessly staring intently at his retreating back.

**~ xXx ~**

"…_Do you have what we seek?"_

_It was darkness, everywhere. Naruto looked around frantically, searching for the voice. "What are you looking for?" Naruto asked in confusion._

_All the voices laughed quietly, as if that was a stupid question. They all spoke together, "Don't act innocent, Child… We are looking for-"_

Naruto woke up to sun rays glaring on his face through the curtain windows, groaning at the pounding headache he was having as he shifted around. Maybe staying out in the rain wasn't such a good idea…

Suddenly, a looming mask appeared in front of him, making him yelp in surprise. The… creepy masked man silently handed him some porridge before retreating towards a chair beside him.

Naruto sweat dropped, looking at the man and at the bowl in his hand, and then back again. He dipped his finger in the porridge warily and tasted it, his eyes suspiciously looking at the dark porridge. It was warm and had a slight cinnamon taste to it.

Touched, Naruto happily ate the still warm porridge, giving some random glances to the person sitting on the chair who was silently staring at him. The man was wearing the gray and black uniform customary of the ANBU elite and his mask portrayed the face of a grotesque crow. Raven black hair poked out from beneath the mask and the eyes were shadowed by the mask. From the person's height, he assumed that the person couldn't have been very old. Naruto tried to feel his aura, but it was hard to find. He felt slight… amusement?

"Guard-san?" Naruto questioned warily. The man nodded stiffly, still staring at him.

"What's with the mask? I mean, do you get to choose what kind you get, because it's really creepy."

Silence.

"Uh, thanks for the porridge, anyway!"

Silence.

"… Your hair is really straight and long. Are you a girl or a guy?"

Twitch. Silence.

"Er… what's this lumpy stuff in here?"

Silence. "Cauliflower."

Naruto's ears perked up. _Success! He has spoken!_

"What's your name, ne?" Naruto pressed, bravely staring into the dark red eyes that seemed to glow eerily beneath the mask.

The guard tilted his head a little to the side as if contemplating the question. There was silence for a brief second before he answered.

"Karasu."

**~ xXx ~**

The next day, as Naruto and Kano began training again, Karasu looked over the pair on the roof in plain view, clearly not wanting another pie in the face.

After Kano congratulated Naruto on revealing the identity of the guard, they both began pouring over some of the scrolls Jiraiya had left. Naruto had already read the scrolls on ninjutsu theory and they were trying to decipher the barely legible words on the taijutsu scrolls. The scrolls had looked like they had been squashed, stomped on, and basically worse for wear, and combined with Jiraiya's already messy handwriting, they were hard pressed on trying to learn from it.

They come across a taijutsu called the Golden Dragon style, an improved style of the Dance of the Dragon Child which Naruto was already learning. Kano unfortunately was not familiar with the style, which was a surprise since the child knew a lot of taijutsu styles.

"Er… Naruto, does this say 'pat me,'?" Kano asked, eyes furrowed in concentration as he stared at the scrolls, his face a centimeter away from the scroll itself.

"I'm pretty sure that's a k, not a p…" Naruto replied doubtfully, snatching the scroll and glaring at it as well.

Tired of their constant chattering, Karasu decided to give them a nudge in the right direction.

"The word says kata," Karasu drawled from the rooftops, reading the messily scribbled words using his sharingan. "The scroll is referring to the first kata of the Golden Dragon style in which you gain the equilibrium of your balance by positioning your feet one behind the…" Karasu faltered.

Kano and Naruto gaped at the ANBU simultaneously, surprised that he had actually talked – _talked_ – and looked at Karasu in a sudden light. "Karasu-sempai…. Can you teach us…?" They chorused.

Karasu blinks. It was one thing to be asked to teach a taijutsu but it was another to teach it to four- and five- year olds. He was ANBU, he wasn't supposed to teach them anything, only guard Naruto. That was it.

Was it because of their puppy-dog eyed looks so similar to Sasuke's, or was it the fact that he did not like being pestered? Whatever the reason was, Itachi had no idea why he answered the way he did.

"….Fine,"

**~ xXx~**

**ONE YEAR LATER**

Naruto was about to enter his first day at the academy. While most kids started at the academy at age eight, Naruto had been begging the Sandaime Hokage to be admitted so here he was, at least two years younger than everyone else around him. Although Naruto had reached a sort of growth spurt at age six – after all, he _had_ grown _four_ inches in a year – Kano, although five years old, looked no different in a year, still wearing that same blue cap.

Ever since Karasu has been guarding Naruto, attacks on him, accidental or not, were slim to none and the rage of the ANBU Crow (_A/N: You guys know 'Crow' as Karasu_) became feared among the kyuubi haters much to the said ANBU's satisfaction. All people threatening to do harm to Naruto were sent to the hospital with two broken arms, a shaved head, and an injured pride.

Itachi had no idea how, but the little blond boy had managed to crack his mask a little: a feat that was supposedly impossible except for Sasuke. It was Naruto's special ability after all to touch the hearts of everyone he met, even the ice cube Itachi.

Karasu had even laughed once when Kano had dyed Naruto's hair pink. It had shocked himself as he hadn't laughed in a very long time – he rarely laughed even with his little brother, just smiled – and although it was only a quiet chuckle that lasted for a brief second, he had _laughed._

Naruto was strong, that was for sure. Itachi had only given Naruto a few tips but the said boy absorbed techniques and directions like a sponge. He was fast approaching high genin level, possibly even a low chunin.

Naruto had a dead aim, courtesy of the special doujutsu training Kano had him under. Naruto could manipulate maximum of ten blades simultaneously. In fact, he had managed to master the blades enough to be able to control them with a low chunin level speed if they are comparing the speed in which regular chunins use with their kunais. The blades could only exist five meters away from him, Naruto admitted slightly grudgingly, but the range was slowly increasing.

In return for the friendship of Kano and… Itachi – Naruto wasn't quite so sure what to call the relationship between him and the aloof ANBU guard, Naruto had taken off his mask when he was around them. It wasn't a physical mask but more of a mental one. Karasu was shocked to learn that under the supposed obnoxious and overly cheerful mask was a mature and mellow child with a sarcastic tongue. It was mind blowing.

Kano had looked totallly pissed after Naruto had nervously explained that he kept his 'mask' on in public so much that it became second nature to wear it near people.

The younger boy had then quite literally stormed off to a nearby training grounds and Naruto and Karasu sweat dropped when loud explosions were heard from that area.

"Sorry," Naruto had said to Karasu, an uneasy expression on his face, unsure of himself after Kano's little outburst. Karasu just shook his head before brotherly flicking Naruto on the forehead in the similar manner that he had done to his little brother so many times.

"You shouldn't be," Karasu replied shortly and walked off to Naruto's apartment. "When Kano comes back, tell him that we're having ramen for dinner."

Naruto smirked in amusement and seemed he was unaffected by this whole even but Itachi knew better. Relief showed in the boy's cerulean blue eyes and Itachi knew that the boy was really worried for a second there, worried that he might lose his only friends. Sadness flitted across the ANBU's vermilion eyes before quickly retreating back to the deep abyss of the ANBU's mind.

Rubbing his forehead, Naruto walked casually off to in the Kano's direction, a genuine happy grin gracing his lips.

"Oi, Kano-chan, you done killing the trees yet?"

"NO!" called out a fuming voice from the trees. "AND STOP CALLING ME KANO-CHAN!" Naruto rolled his eyes at the childish words of the younger boy.

As Karasu read a magazine, waiting for the water to boil, and as Kano vented his anger, one thought stayed in the two boys' minds.

Naruto had entrusted his secret to them, possibly one of his deepest secrets, and they weren't going to make Naruto regret that if they had any say in it.

Soon, it was lunch time at Konoha academy and Itachi watched Naruto chatting energetically with a brunette by name of Tenten. Her father was one of the best weapon dealer and maker in Konoha and Itachi always went to the said man's shop to replace his toolkit as well as fix his swords – after all, high rank missions were just what it was, it was dangerous, and he had came back with damaged tantō more than few times.

His eyes twitched when he caught the sight of a boy who looked like a mini replica of Maito Gai's. The said boy, however, wasn't screaming about the flames of youth but seemed much more withdrawn. Then, Itachi saw Naruto and Tenten approach the somewhat gloomy boy and began an animated chat. This made the young ANBU mentally smile – Naruto could basically brighten up anyone's day.

**~ xXx ~**

**LATER THAT DAY**

"Itachi-nii? You've been so busy! Are we still having the shuriken practice later?"

Itachi looked up as he pulled off his sandals and smiled at the hopeful expression on Sasuke's face.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I have an important mission that requires me to be away for most of the time…" Itachi faltered, seeing Sasuke's downcast expression. "I guess a few hours wouldn't hurt, though." he relented.

Sasuke smiles happily. "Arigato, Itachi-nii! I've been loads better, I've been practicing a lot and a lot!"

Itachi laughs softly before heading towards his room. Sasuke watches his nii-san with a happy smile. Lately, his nii-san has been more cheerful, and he actually laughed more. Nii-san never used to do that before. _Nii-san _was old grumpy pants with the face of a statue, _especially _when Tou-san was around.

Itachi was just opening his bedroom door, when he was alerted to a presence behind him.

"Good morning, ANBU-san." Itachi greeted politely, turning around to face the ANBU and unconsciously tensed at seeing the mask. He recognized the mask – dove – as one of the members of more secret branch of ANBU, also part of the famed ANBU team, Team White, led by the even more famous Kakashi Hatake, the son of White Fang. The dove – who was actually woman not a man – adjusted her mask to the side of her head, her face emotionless as a robot, the sign of a well-trained ANBU. "What brings you to the Uchiha residence?" Itachi asked pleasantly despite the suspicion that was forming in his mind, his composed face betraying not a single emotion.

"The council members have decided to move you from just solo ANBU into a team." She spoke softly.

Itachi knew what this meant – he was getting promoted. Only the best ANBU's worked as a team, completing deadly missions that barely anyone came back unscathed. Team White wasn't just famous for its leader after all. The team completed the highest number of those missions with least amount of damage, a proud record in the history of Konoha village.

He was highly suspicious that the council members are just trying to give him more missions. The ANBUs in the teams completes both solo and team missions, thus performing nearly double the amount the solo ANBUs performed. They had solo missions in between team missions with barely any time to breathe. That also meant that he would be living in the team quarters – due to the hectic schedule, ANBU team members lived in the team quarters and they talked about the mission in the common room.

"You are to report to the council now. The council members have decided to put you in Team White in replacement for Lemur who had been killed in action during a solo. I believe you will be given a mission by one of the honored Konoha elders. Follow me." With that, dove spun gracefully on her feet and leaped into the distance.

Itachi nodded automatically, hiding the sudden loud beating of his heart, before following the ANBU. Team White… this was just plain ludicrous. Yes, he is the youngest ANBU in the history and yes, he had successfully completed dozens of assassination missions, but to be assigned to the _best_ assassination team in the ANBU history… the council members, the Elders to be more specific, must be up to something. Why would the elders want him to give him a mission at this time anyways? It was already getting dark.

It was hours later when a drenched Itachi opened the front door to his house. Lightning illuminated the dark night outside, briefly revealing the many raindrops and downcast clouds.

As soon as he opened the door, he was tackled by a small blue-black blur.

The 'blue-black blur' glowered at Itachi, an accusing scowl on his face. "Itachi-nii!" Sasuke said in a hurt voice. "Where were you today? Did you forget your promise to help me with shuri..ken…. Itachi-nii?

Sasuke's previous annoyance melted at the sight of his brother.

Itachi slowly pried Sasuke off him before collapsing against the door, his head resting on his knees. Long black bangs, the tips dripping from the rain, partially covered his dark eyes which were staring blankly at the floor.

"Itachi-nii?" Sasuke asked softly, crouching down in front of his older brother. "…Itachi-nii?"

"…Sasuke," Itachi said slowly in a hoarse voice, looking up at him.

Sasuke was scared. Itachi sounded really sad, but he didn't look hurt. There wasn't any blood on him, and he didn't seem sick or anything…

"It's late… You should get to bed.." Itachi said indifferently.

His eyes told a different story as they appeared to be struggling with something. Itachi bit his lip, causing a bead of blood to drip out.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…. _I'm sorry_…" Itachi whispered softly, apologizing to no one in particular. Sasuke could barely hear it, the agonized voice of his older brother.

"Nii-san…?" Sasuke said, his voice breaking at the end.

Itachi quickly let go, his bangs hiding his face as he got up from the floor.

Suddenly, he smiled down at Sasuke, running a hand through his wet hair. "Sorry otouto, I forgot. Maybe we can do it tomorrow, okay?"

He poked Sasuke on the forehead, before walking past him. Sasuke watched silently as his older brother walked up the stairs.

"What's wrong, Itachi-nii?" he whispered in a worried tone.

* * *

**Yes, Itachi was just informed of his 'new mission,' those stupid Konoha bastards, but it's not what you think. Remember, Itachi's only eleven right now, not thirteen. If you guys are still confused, I advise you to reread the manga again.**

**Oh, by the way, I'm going to twist couple events a bit. It's not going to be huge thing but just couple events will take place a bit earlier than it does in the canon. However, since this is a fanfiction, I get to decide when things happen. Mwhahahaha (Evil cackling laugh resonates through an empty cave and three witches suddenly stops their little song, halting their merry little stirring of the pot. If you guys don't get this, just go and pick up Macbeth by Shakespeare sometime soon).**

**I'm sorry readers, for my excessive amount of cliff hangers, hehehe.**

**And man, I gave away so many hints - I hope you guys get them. Okay, you probably won't. Muahahahahahaha….. Also, you can guess what the 'new mission' is or what the elders are up to but I'll just laugh.**

**Hope you guys liked this chapter. This is mostly a filler, training, fluff chapter, but the next chapter goes into the some mysterious death (note that this is just death, not deaths) and some other stuff. *cough*kyuubi*cough***

**I'm trying to make this go faster so we can finally enter the original timeline. xD**

**Remember, reviews make me upload faster and they would really be appreciated…**

**– Jade**


	5. Chapter 4: The Burdened

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**Hey guys... I'm back again. I'm pleased to announce that I'm not dead yet, and not planning on dying anytime soon :P This is where my story really diverge from its original, aSTRAY. I hope you guys like it. I had such a busy life past couple month and I haven't exactly completely recovered from it yet. My brain is all befuzzled from lack of sleep - try sleeping four hours a day and you guys will understand me... oh and throw in lacrosse practices too. Man, being in two lacrosse teams _is_ taking its toll on me. I guess I'm not as invincible as I thought I was... As for swimming, well, swimming is swimming, nothing more or less.**

So here it is. Enjoy.

- Jade Wylkyns

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Memento mori: Chapter 4: The Burdened

* * *

"_So tell me, what's it like living in a constant haze of stupidity?"_-Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho)

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**IV**

_

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There's a lot of people out in the world. Every one of them has a unique life that is just theirs. But some people have ones worse than others. We have secrets, we have a darkness. But we're all the same and yet different. We want what the rest has. Something they took for granted. But why, then, are we always quiet? Why does the one who wants the most never accept the fact that they do? Why do they never reach for it? _

__

It's the same for everybody. When one loved another, he wanted so badly to tell her. But he doesn't. When one has a bad home life, and is beaten and abused nearly everyday, why does he turn to the darkness? Why would he stick that needle in his arm when there are people in the world wanting to help him? Is it pride? Is it stubbornness? Cowardice? Do we like this pain?

We are the burdened. And because of our darkness, we don't turn to the light.

_- Naruto_

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~ xXx ~

Chapter Four

Itachi's ears were caressed with soft wind that carried giggles imbued with unadulterated joy as he stood off in the side, leaning casually against the sturdy bark of ancient-looking tree. The giggles belonged to two little sweat-covered boys who were busy playing a rather fast-paced tag. If anyone saw the scene, and didn't recognize the blond boy as 'village monster' and didn't realized that the older boy watching in the sideline as the heir of Uchiha clan, they probably thought it was just a kid watching his little brothers' antics affectionately.

Even though Itachi's body was facing the little boys, there was something off about his eyes. They were unseeing, as though he was living another reality, a reality much more cruel than the peaceful scenery around him. In fact, Itachi was living a different reality, a reality called his past.

_The large doors that marked the entrance to the private room of Elders loomed over Itachi's short stature of 5 feet. A wave of unexplained uneasiness swept over Itachi, but his feelings were masked by both Itachi's well-trained emotion control and the white porcelain mask of Karasu that marked him as the deadly assassin of ANBU. With two tall ROOT ANBUs at each side, Itachi gave a little nudge at the smooth mahogany carvings. Much to his surprise, the doors swung open with little difficulty, not a single sound of creaking joints to be heard. A well-polished marbled floor spread out before him, a dark bolded line creating a path to a large table where the Elders were sitting around in comfortable-looking couches. The two ANBUs accompanied the Uchiha heir to the Elders, their posture rigid._

_"ANBU code Karasu, reporting in, Respected Elders." Itachi spoke in the gravelling voice customary of ANBUs, much thanks to the voice-changing chip imbedded into his mask._

_The Elders shifted their position to get a better view of the new arrivals. An ominous smile suddenly spread across the wrinkly mouth belonging to the elderly man, whom Itachi recognized as Homura Mitokado._

_"Ah, I see our dear Uchiha-san has finally arrived." Homura spoke with the tenderness of a grandfather._

_Itachi didn't understand the smile nor the puzzling words, but he trusted his instincts – they had saved his life on multiple occasions, the job of ANBU being more than just pomp – and right now, they told him that something bad, really bad, was going to happen. There was just something wrong about that smile._

_"Itachi-san, take off that mask of yours. This mission is, should you choose to accept it, to be accomplished as Itachi, the certified jonin of Konoha, not as ANBU code Karasu." The elderly woman, the only person present besides the two ANBUs, Itachi, and Homura, spoke in grandmotherly tone. Itachi instantly recognized her as Koharu Utatane, the female member of Sandaime-sama's genin team, taught by Nidaime-sama. She was a cunning old lady, one of the masterminds behind most Konoha's less than respectable businesses, nearly rivaling with the conniving Danzou._

_"My job is to serve Konoha and I will accept any missions without question as long as it is for the good of Konoha." Itachi spoke softly as he readjusted his mask to the side of his head._

_"Well said. I always knew that you were one of the best Konoha can offer." Koharu spoke with a kind smile but instead of its what seemed to be intending soothing effect, Itachi felt something inside him clench tightly, his body tensing against his will._

_"What is this mission you speak of, my most Respected Elders?" Itachi asked quietly, his steady tone betraying not a single sign of his uneasiness._

_"The success of this mission is crucial to the well-being of Konoha. However, if you choose to accept it, this mission will also be the last mission you'll accomplish for the sake of Konoha, for this mission also requires you to leave Konoha." With a grave tone, Homura spoke quietly, his dark eyes meeting the emotionless onyx of Itachi._

_"As long as it is for the good of Konoha, I'm willing to perform any mission, at any cost, my most Respected Elders." The inner mind of Itachi was in turmoil: a part of him wanted him to just drop this mission while the other was dying to know the content of this secret mission._

_"Itachi, I always knew that you were a great boy. This mission, while it may be accomplished at any time you see is the best, there is a deadline. Boy, while I cannot give you the deadline, for I do not know for sure, but you'll know when it is." Homura continued. "In this mission, I want you to…"_

"ITACHI NII-SAN!"

A loud voice interrupted Itachi's inner musing and dragged him down to the real world. Itachi's dark eyes focused as it met the large blue of Naruto who was practically screaming at the older boy's face. The Uchiha noticed, with the alertness that was prerequisite to being an ANBU, that Kano was standing off in the side, his crimson eyes creased with mirth and his childish mouth stretched wide with laughter.

"ITACHI NII-SAN!"

Itachi turned his attention back to the loud blond that was deafening him. "Yes, Naruto-kun? What is it?"

"It's time for you to train us!" Naruto shouted joyfully as the older boy sighed in resignation.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. You're right." Itachi spoke as he gauged the time by looking at the angle of the sun.

"Itachi nii-san?"

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" The boy who was obnoxiously loud just a minute ago suddenly asked in a much quieter voice as he looked concernedly at the older boy. "Ya know, you were spacing out quite a bit there. You didn't even seem to hear me the first time I called your name."

"I'm fine, but thanks for asking, Naruto-kun." Itachi spoke softly. It would not do well to dwell on the more unpleasant memories with Naruto around. Aside from being able to see others emotions through use of kuroibaragan, Naruto seemed to have a knack for people's feelings and condition.

"Okay, then. Let's go and teach me something COOL!" Naruto's voice changed back into those belonging to a hyper seven-year-old boy in a blink of an eye.

"YEAH!" Kano joined in with an equally loud voice with an obnoxious grin.

Mentally shaking his head at the little boys' antics, Itachi let Naruto and Kano drag him deep into the training ground, half-heartedly listening to the two talking about the 'cool' techniques that they wanted to learn.

**~ xXx ~**

**_The heavy suffocating stench of rust and iron permeated the air as he stood in the middle of a large crater. He looked around him, his red slitted eyes scanning the parameters. Piles of corpses were scattered around him in a gruesome sight and crimson blood dyed the ground rusty red. He licked his lips in euphoric joy as he savored the taste of blood in his mouth, some of them dripping down his chin. After making sure there were no more humans he could devour, he let out an ecstatic howl and crouched to leap away from the lifeless terrain when a small movement caught his keen eyes._**

**_It was a little girl, barely seven years old, and she looked at him with absolute terror in her eyes. She opened her small mouth to scream but he was behind her in a flash and grabbed her, feeling every beat of her heart in his hand. He was in control, he held the life of the little girl in his hand. It felt good: the power intoxicated him. An unintended laughter growled out of his bloodstained mouth, the gravelly sound that shook his large frame. The girl started to cry as he let out a sadistic grin and licked her face, relishing every bit of the girl's terror. He squeezed his hand and his sharp nails drew beads of blood, the rusty aroma serving to delight him even more. He licked the blood from the child's arms, his unnaturally sharp incisor drawing a fine red line._**

Naruto woke up with a start, his breath coming out in shallow gasps. He didn't know what it was, but he could have sworn that there was blood in his mouth. The memory didn't belong to him… but how does he have it? Or even before that, is it even a memory? His mind started getting fuzzier as the half-awakened body slumbered into sleep once again.

**_The girl was dead – he could sense it in her stilled heart. Warmth still embraced the recently killed girl, and it warmed him. Crimson pooled underneath him as the little girl's blood dripped, the sunlight glinting off the shiny surface. He couldn't resist the temptation anymore – he reached down the bottom and licked the ground, trying to retrieve every drop of the precious blood that was wasted. The rusty taste was like drug to him – it made him warm and he felt as though he was flying. Or, maybe he actually was flying. He didn't know, nor did he care. The blood… it intoxicated him, it served him, it gave him power. He was the Demon King._**

When Naruto woke again, the sun was already shining brightly in the sky. The golden rays pierced through his thin curtains and blinded him as he rubbed his eyes, his feet blindedly searching the floor for something that he didn't quite know what.

**~ xXx ~**

Slinging his backpack over one shoulder, Naruto grinned as he made his way towards the academy. It was his second day at academy and he was expecting some fun. After all, his sensei, Mosoto, promised sparring today and TenTen promised to be Naruto's partner. He couldn't wait, but he was somewhat nervous. With all those sparring sessions with Itachi nii-san and Kano, he knew that he could hold his own against a semi-decent opponent – not that Itachi nii-san was even using half his full power, Naruto suspected – but he also knew that he couldn't let others know just how good, or how bad, he is. He had to keep things secret. Casting a glance behind him, he found some relief in the fact that Kano was watching him, albeit with a worried expression.

Plastering a large grin on his face, Naruto entered through the door to the academy, his apprehension from just a moment ago all gone.

**~ xXx ~**

"Hey, Neji." A group of girls chorused as they crowded the pale boy with long brown hair who was quite blatantly ignoring them with haughty expression.

"Hi, Neji~!" A girl pushed the others out of her way as she tilted her head, giving the object of her attention what looked like a pathetic imitation of a seductive look.

"Meh, this is so boring." Someone yawned with exaggeration, and Naruto turned around to see a boy with brown hair and brown eyes, typical of villagers.

Naruto scanned the room, looking for the girl with bun from yesterday, and found her waving at him. He gave her a large grin and went to the empty seat next to her that he had saved for her.

"Hey, Naruto. So, what's up?" TenTen asked in friendly tone.

"Nothing much. 'bout you?"

"Same here. Those girls really need to learn how to shut their snout though." TenTen rolled her eyes at the now squealing girls, giving a slight smile.

"I totally agree." Naruto agreed heartily. The girls _were_ getting on his nerves, after all, with all that screeching sound.

"Oh, I forgot to ask yesterday. How old are you?" TenTen asked.

"Six. How 'bout you?"

"Woah, only six? I'm eight. How'd you get in so young?"

"I know Hokage-jiji (_A/N: -jiji is an informal title for grandfather_) very well. I've been begging him to put me into the academy since like I was five." Naruto told the wide-eyed girl matter-of-factly, puffing his chest out proudly.

"That's so cool. What's he like?"

"SHUT UP, CLASS!" The chunin academy teacher, Soto-sensei, as written on the board, roared as he came in through the classroom door that had slid open unnoticed by anyone, with possible exception of the pale-eyed boy that the girls crowded around. Soto-sensei had stocky stature with head as bald as an egg and had menacing, cold blue eyes. Why he was an academy teacher, no one was certain.

"Man, he's loud, isn't he?" TenTen whispered, and Naruto nodded.

"Wonder who he is."

"He must be the sensei that yesterday's Kitai-sensei told us. He's supposed to be the actual teacher but was working on something, right?"

"Whoa, you actually listened to Kitai-sensei? Her voice was practically a drone. I could barely tell one word from the other." This talk got Naruto a nice smack in the head from TenTen. _Man, that girl hit hard,_ Naruto thought. _Maybe I should start watching out more._

"Atoshi Noara."

"Uh, here!"

"Dasu Nobumaru."

"I'm here."

…

The role-calling was starting to Naruto and he was beginning to feel a bit apprehensive. Yesterday, because Kitai-sensei wasn't the permanent sensei and because she was busy with her paperwork, she had forgotten to do the roll-call.

So far, Naruto had managed to blend in with the rest by chatting with TenTen just like all his fellow classmates around him, with exception of a Nara girl who was lethargically observing the classroom and Neji who was sitting uptight and ready to move at a second's notice. However, with this roll-calling, he will have to face the disgust of his fellow classmates, the disgust aimed at him. Dreading the U's to start, he waited, his heart practically about to jump out of his chest.

…

"Hyuga Neji"

"Present."

"Motoro Tsumi."

"Here, sensei!"

"Nara Biyako."

"Present, sensei!"

…

Suddenly Naruto was slammed with a great idea, and he turned around to TenTen excitedly.

"TenTen, I'm going to sneak out of here and come back in a sec. Alright?"

"Okay, but where're you going?"

"There's just couple things I really gotta do but forgot to do."

"'Kay, but be back soon."

"Oki-doki."

…

"Rutoshi TenTen."

"Here!"

"Souka Toshi."

"Present."

"Taguma Monara."

"Here."

"Tourata Dereta."

"Here."

"Uzu…." Soto faltered, staring at the list. "Uzumaki…. Naruto" he growled. A moment of silence filled the classroom before the whispers began.

"Uzumaki? Isn't he that weird prankster kid?"

Groan. "That guy wears way too much orange."

Soto exploded. "UZUMAKI! Get your FREAKING ASS down here or you'll fail the cla-"

He faltered, as a small black sphere as small as a golf ball rolled into the room. He stared at it with a dumbfounded expression before he widened his eyes.

"FU-"

BOOM.

Smoke exploded from the smoke bomb, quickly enveloping the classroom. The teacher began swearing profusely as the girls shrieked in alarm, and the guys coughed in alarm.

The only one only mildly confused about this sudden random attack was Neji, who stood up warily, scanning the classroom and fingering a kunai. Suddenly, he whipped his head to the side as he saw a pie speedily heading his way.

A pie? "Wha-?" Neji said in confusion before ducking quickly. The pie flew over his head only to hit the person behind him.

A small figure appeared from the clearing smoke. He wore a large grin on his face, and wore the most eye-popping, bright orange jumpsuit anybody has ever seen. In fact, if not for the fact that a shuriken holster was openly seen attached to his right leg, one wouldn't place him as a shinobi.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO, PRANKSTER EXTRAORDINAIRE!" Naruto exclaimed, giving a thumbs up to the class.

Everybody stared open mouthed at him, TenTen included, before a large growling sound was heard behind Naruto.

"Get to your seat, Uzumaki," Soto stated slowly, glaring hatefully at him. Naruto's grin didn't falter as he headed towards his seat, hands behind his head.

"What do you think you're doing, Naruto?" TenTen frowned at him yet being unable to suppress the laughter that was escaping her mouth.

"Nothing much. It was just a simple entrance after all." Naruto stated proudly as he leaned back to his chair, his arms stretched out behind his head.

"Okay, since it's your first days…" Soto started, swinging a kunai on one finger. "I'm going to be evaluating your abilities. Taijutsu sparring outside. Partner up." He paused, staring intimidatingly at the silent class. "GO!" he roared.

As everybody began partnering up, Naruto slowly scanned the classroom. Most of the guys had already joined up with their friends and the girls likewise. He didn't know anyone very well except TenTen and he was sure that she had other friends that she wanted to partner up with…

Suddenly TenTen stood up and held out her hand as she tilted her hand. "Partners?"

After a split second of shocked silence, Naruto agreed with a wide smile about his face. "Sure."

Smirking, TenTen slid easily into her family-taught taijutsu, and stared boldly at his opponent. Naruto grinned cheekily back, before….

"YYYEAAARRGGHH!" He roared, charging recklessly at him. TenTen was struck dumb at the most stupidest move he could do, before composing herself.

"What do you think you're doing, Naruto?" TenTen half shouted as she leaped up above him, doing a slightly flawed but quite advanced acrobatic flip in the air before landing behind Naruto. Naruto whipped around to block a punch but fell backwards as TenTen kicked down at the bend of his knee, making him stagger.

TenTen couldn't make anything out of this unusual display of obvious lack of talent. The way Naruto talked was like those of someone who was careless, yet at the same time extremely careful, if that made any sense. This persona that Naruto was showing right now… just wasn't Naruto that she knew, not that she knew him for very long. She had had a feeling that she had a at least adequate grasp of Naruto's persona but… she wasn't quite so sure any more. Or could it be… could it be that Naruto is hiding something? Her dad has taught her that shinobi must learn to hide their trump card until the last moment, so they will have an advantage over their enemy. But Naruto couldn't possibly know those things… or could he? He was only six years old but sometimes when he talked, TenTen received feelings of intelligence and maturity not matching of his age.

The narrow avoidance of a sloppy kick that was aimed for her head jolted TenTen out of her chaos of her thoughts. She decided that she would ponder more on it later, when she had time. But until she figured it out, or at least until she had a realistic hypothesis, she would just keep her thoughts to herself.

Pulling herself together, TenTen went on the offensive at the still widely-grinning boy.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, just as a punch flew a hairs length from his face, and rolled away. TenTen retreated as well, panting a little bit while easing back towards his stance.

By then, all of the other spars have already finished, and everybody was watching him. Soto leaned casually against the wall, watching them intently. TenTen, who wasn't popular by any means but well liked by couple classmates that knew her, was cheered on by those few while others were just watching them like they would watch a comedy show.

Naruto grinned that already familiar wide grin, before also easing to a stance. TenTen's eyes furrowed in confusion. Naruto's stance was horribly off-balance, and his legs spread too wide apart. That stance would get him nowhere, but then again, there was something about his sloppy stance that made it not look quite so sloppy.

Shrugging her shoulders mentally, TenTen charged once again. Naruto hesitated before charging as well. Ducking under Naruto's clumsy punch, TenTen did a quick uppercut with her left hand, a move that was recently taught to her by her father, and slammed into Naruto's chin. She hoped that maybe that jab will wake Naruto back to his real self.

The girls cheered wildly and boys bursted into loud laughter as Naruto was sent flying backwards and TenTen grimaced at her throbbing knuckles. She was mildly surprised as Naruto got up again, wiping his chin with his arm. It was then when TenTen realized what was bothering her. That jab, an academy student shouldn't have been able to take it without some damage. It took her a series of horribly long sessions to get that down and she still haven't mastered how to block it yet, let alone for an untrained, unskilled academy student to take the brunt of it and still stand. Moreover, she saw how Naruto slightly twisted his body, getting the hit from least forceful part of her hand, and how each sloppy punch was so accurate. The two stared at each other, blue to black. Suddenly, Naruto cocked his head, easing out of his stance.

"Karasu?" Naruto muttered in puzzlement. TenTen looked at him weirdly as the strange interruption broke her out of her thoughts again. She knew that Naruto must be at least as good as her, and decided it was time to force him out of his mask. With that thought, TenTen whipped out a shuriken.

All the girls gasped dramatically as TenTen threw the shuriken. She had been playing with shurikens and kunais since she was a little kid and she had a dead aim, but she knew that Naruto will be able to block it. She could just tell. The shuriken was still heading towards Naruto and the world seemed to be in slow motion for TenTen. She watched Naruto's every movement with hawk's eyes, waiting for the slight motion that will betray Naruto's skill. Naruto quickly took out a kunai knife and held it up to block the-

A kunai whipped through the air, imbedding Naruto's hand to a tree. Gasping in both surprise and pain, Naruto let go of the kunai, and it clattered onto the ground. TenTen was shocked, then she was furious. She threw another shuriken, this time faster than the one before, to change the trajectory of her earlier shuriken, and turned to the owner of the kunai that had pinned her friend.

"Oi, no weapons allowed during the fights," Soto drawled, another kunai spinning warningly on one finger.

Naruto couldn't hear him.

_Pain. He couldn't breathe. Every part of his body was in agony. Kami, he couldn't breathe. He could only watch in dim horror as one of them advanced on him, a kunai knife in one hand. The man shoved him roughly to his feet, before grabbing his hand, and pinning it up above his head. Everybody jeered as the man, his face shrouded in shadows, grinned gleefully as, with one motion, stabbed the kunai savagely through his hand, and onto the wood behind it, pinning his hand to the wall. Naruto screamed as his other hand was pinned above him as well, raising his body above the ground. His weight proved too much for the blade, and the kunai dug deeper into his flesh, as his weight lowered him down slowly to the ground. "Stop…" Naruto whispered feebly. The shadows laughed at him sadistically, and his world began to spin, the dark colors swirling together. _

**_"Snap out of it, jinchuuriki."_**

Snapping his eyes open, Naruto gripped the kunai and with one sharp jerk, he tugged free the blade from his hand. Everybody flinched simultaneously as the blood flowed profusely from the hand.

Naruto dropped the blade in silence, before looking up at Soto, his clear blue eyes staring emotionlessly at him. Inwardly, he was shaking like a leaf. He didn't think that the incident has shaken him up this much. Pushing the feeling into the back of his mind, he grinned widely, though his eyes stayed trained on Soto, devoid of any humor. And to everybody else's shock, Soto averted his eyes.

"Gomen nasai, Soto-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, breaking the silence, as he scratched the back of his head. "I guess I'll go to the nurse's office, hehehe." He said, edging towards back towards the academy entrance.

An awkward silence filled the air as the Naruto left.

"Was that really necessary?" TenTen demanded as she bristled with fury on her spot. She was more than furious now, having seen how her teacher had treated the little kid. There definitely was a mystery involved here. Only if she was a Nara… But that option was out, the option of asking one of the Nara's. She had after all promised herself to not tell anyone about this. If Naruto really was hiding something, then she didn't want people to find out the secret that Naruto was obviously trying to hide. TenTen began to feel bad that she had forced Naruto to whip out his kunai. If she hadn't, then he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"I didn't say that weapons were allowed," Soto barked out, making everybody flinch. "Suck it up, you're all going to be ninjas. Everybody back to class."

Soto stormed back into the classroom, the students following him.

"So, did TenTen-chan win?"

"I hope he doesn't do that to my hand."

"Did you see all the blood? Ewwww."

"Man, the orange kid sucks a lot."

"Maybe I'll ask Kaa-san for a transfer…."

TenTen, at the back of the crowd, glanced back at the bloody kunai left on the ground, still bristling with fury. She jumped in surprise as a man leaped down from the trees and picked up the kunai. It was an ANBU, dressed in their trademark white armor, his mask painted black in the form of a bird. Or more specifically a crow, a frightening black crow.

The ANBU looked up, his eyes, shadowed in the mask, staring at her. TenTen could feel the fury slightly slipping away as she felt a bit nervous as the ANBU walked gracefully towards her. He, at least TenTen thought the ANBU was a he but it was entirely possible that it was a girl, deposited a paper note into her hand. TenTen looked at the paper note curiously.

"Deliver that to Soto-sensei. Do not read it," stated the ANBU, his voice a robotic deep bass. TenTen decided that he was a 'he'.

"Umm, o-okay," TenTen stammered, a bit intimidated by the ANBU. She looked up at the ANBU. Seriously, that mask looked really creepy. TenTen eyed the hair. It was black, and was tied in a loose ponytail, the bangs hanging in front of the mask. It looked really familiar for some reason….

"Hey, are you that guy who came to my dad's house for the clan meeting? You were with the Uchiha clan, right?" TenTen asked, now all thoughts of Soto-sensei gone from her mind.

The ANBU paused, before looking down at the child. "No, civilian-san," the ANBU replied. "I am Karasu,"

"Oh," TenTen said with a small smile. "Okay."

"You should get to class, now." Karasu stated walking away.

"Okay." TenTen repeated again, an expression of curiosity about her face, before retreating into the classroom. The ANBU stared at the disappearing figure before disappearing in a whirl of leaves.

**~ xXx ~**

TenTen walked into the quiet classroom. The class was doing some questions from the shinobi handbook, and Naruto still hadn't come back yet. The teacher was lounging in his desk, reading a strange orange book TenTen had always seen her Tou-san reading nowadays. Giving her worst glare to the oblivious teacher, she walked up to him.

"Rutoshi! Get to your seat!" barked Soto.

"Ano, Soto-sensei," TenTen piped up in a mock-polite voice. "I have a note for you." She handed Soto-sensei the note, before walking back towards her seat. Whatever the note was, she was sure that it couldn't be anything pleasant because she never knew ANBU to be one to give happy little notes to teachers who abuses little kids, not that she would ever let Naruto know that she think of him as a little kid.

Grumbling, Soto snatched the note and opened it. As he read it, he got paler and paler, before crumbling the note with one hand.

"G-get to work, class," Soto stammered, and left out the door. The class stared at the closing door before shrugging and returning to their work. In her mind, TenTen smirked as she watched the door close.

Just then, Naruto came sauntering into the classroom, his hands neatly bandaged. TenTen waved at him in delight, glad that he wasn't too hurt or something. She pointed at the empty seat next to him to which Naruto came and sat down in, giving her a large placid grin.

Naruto stared down at the textbook that was given to him by Soto-sensei. It was torn and held only by a large number of staplers. Oh well. That'll have to do until he got a new one or something. After quickly answer the questions, he started doodling on the blank paper, drawing random circles all over the paper.

When the lunch bell rang, everybody stood up, sending curious glances at the teacher's desk as he wasn't back yet.

"Hey, Naruto, wanna eat with me and couple of my friends?" TenTen asked cheerfully.

"Sure, but I have someone that I need to meet really quick right now, though. Where 'you guys gonna be at?"

"We'll be right under the tree next to the gym. You shouldn't have much trouble finding us."

"Okay, got it. See ya then."

"Yeah. See ya."

Naruto then left with a slight wave and a large grin about his face, and walked up the stairs leading to the rooftops. The grin faded from his face, and he slid down against the fence, slouching against the wires. He rolled his head towards his right to see Karasu sitting crouched down sideways against the fence, his feet sticking against the metal.

"Hey, what happened to the Soto guy?" Naruto asked casually, pulling out a bento box and snapping apart his chopsticks.

"Let's just say, he won't be teaching anymore," Karasu said, a smirk playing on his face beneath the mask. Naruto snorted in amusement.

"You know, it wasn't that serious," Naruto added, gesturing to his bandaged hand.

"I saw your face when it happened," Karasu stated, his playful voice suddenly edged with sternness that strangely didn't seem too out of place despite his youthful voice. "Don't tell me that was nothing. If Kano was here, he'd beat the shit out of him, five-year-old or not."

A year ago, Karasu might've said nothing but now, his personality has fleshed out a bit more. Naruto couldn't believe at first that under that emotionless exterior was a laidback man with a dry humor and a sense of loyalty. But Naruto also knew that in the battlefield, Karasu was a respected, graceful, and skilled ANBU. How he knew this, he didn't know, but he somehow knew it. He could sense it when he is near Karasu, he could feel the feelings somewhat radiating from him, though a whole level subdued from others. It was like having a sixth sense, except that it wasn't detecting dangers. When he was around people, he got some kind of vibes from them and while he couldn't quite explain it, he understood them. Something he noticed was that vibes from ninjas tended to be more subdued then the civilians and higher the ranking of the ninja was, the vibe tended to be more subdued as well. But Karasu was on whole different level – those feelings were like a tiny buzzing of a fly, and Naruto had to really concentrate to understand it. Karasu was well-trained, alright, Naruto had to give him that.

The sound of a fight was heard down at the academy grounds. Naruto glanced down in curiosity, and saw about half a dozen guys surrounding the boy from yesterday behind the back of the playground. What was his name? Right. His name was Rock Lee, and the other boys seemed to be ganging up on him. Naruto's eyes flashed black just for a fraction of a second.

"You and your stupid hero complex," Karasu muttered to himself as Naruto rushed down there.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Naruto shouted in indignation, pointing a finger at the crowd. They paused in their bullying, looking at him with a dumbfounded expression before snarling in annoyance.

"Go away, stupid, little, orange kid, we're busy here," One of them growled. The rest cracked their knuckles in a seemingly intimidating way.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto! And as the next Hokage, I demand that you stop right now, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled with a confident voice although he cringed mentally inside. The bullies paused, blinking as their ears adjusted to the Naruto loud volume, before snarling again.

"Oh yeah?"

"Let's teach him a lesson!"

They were starting to advance when Karasu jumped down from the rooftops, landing in a cat-like crouch on the ground. He slowly raised his head, the crow-like mask staring blankly at the guys. Naruto mentally rolled his eyes.

The guys all took a step back in horror at the sudden appearance of fierce looking ANBU, not even noticing the exceptionally short height for an ANBU for they were just too shocked and scared, before running back to the academy.

"We'll get back at you for this!"

"You stupid little BRAT!"

"Freak!"

Naruto ignored them, grinning up at Karasu. Karasu nodded once before disappearing. Rock Lee looked nervously at the spot where Karasu disappeared before turning back to Naruto, and recognized him as the boy he had talked to the day before.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked with concern, pulling out his hand. Rock Lee nodded shyly and grabbed his hand as he pulled himself up from the ground that the boys had pushed him into.

"Who was that?" Rock Lee asked, pointing to the spot where Karasu disappeared.

"Oh." Naruto said, scratching the back of head sheepishly for the second time that day. He searched his head quickly for an excuse. "That was just a random dude who hates bullying." Niiice.

"Ah…" Rock Lee nods her head in understanding. He seemed to be really subdued, even more so than the day before, and Naruto didn't like it. Suddenly, he flashed a wide grin at Naruto, a real genuine grin.

"Thank you," Rock Lee smiled. Naruto was surprised. He could actually feel the genuine gratitude in his aura. He smiled back.

"Uh… no problem…" Naruto mumbled, averting his eyes.

"Hey, do you want to be friends?" Rock Lee asked tentatively, his posture screaming 'shy'.

"Sure. Let me introduce you to my friends. You've met one of them yesterday, TenTen."

Later on, as he was walking home, only one thought was in Naruto mind. He never knew having friends, Itachi nii-san and Kano-chan, no –kun, didn't count because they were more like his family then friends, could be so nice.

**~ xXx ~**

Naruto was walking home when he felt something weird. He closed his eyes and opened it again, revealing the dull blood-red eyes. Naruto then proceeded on to observing his surroundings as discreetly as he could – having an ANBU as a private instructor taught him many useful things such as never letting your enemy, or enemies, that you detect their presence. There was a red aura, an aura that Naruto could only associate with anger. Slipping his right hand into his pocket where he kept a small blade, he picked up a small stone and started playing a little game of catch with himself, ready to throw it if necessary.

It was then that he noticed the small sounds of cloth brushing against brushes and the slight rustles of leaves as his stalker walked. He knew that a ninja would never make that kind of sound but it seemed too discreet for it to be by a civilian. A genin, perhaps? If that was the case, then he shouldn't have to follow the standard procedure of possible attacks by possibly dangerous enemies, at least that's what he thought.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" Naruto spoke as he halted and spun on his feet to face the direction of the sound. His voice was edged and his eyebrows were narrowed despite his effort to be composed. He guessed he will have to train his facial features more. He thought he was well-trained in the art of concealing emotions but concealing his emotions with a poker face, he soon learned, was a whole different level from concealing with a wide obnoxious smile.

"Ummm…" a tiny voice squeaked out as a girl stepped cautiously from the bush. Quickly turning off his kuroibaragan – Karasu nii-san had drilled into him that he should never reveal his trump card – he gauged her. She was a girl that Naruto had never seen before but he noticed her eyes. Karasu nii-san had taught him about all kinds of family blood-line limits, a special talent that certain families are born with, and he instantly recognized the eyes as one of the three known dojutsus… but he couldn't quite place the name.

_"Naruto, while there is numerous, nearly countless, number of family blood-line limits, some of them quite strong while others not so much, there are only three known eye blood-line limits. Your kuroibaragan, for your information, is not part of the three I am teaching you because that blood-line limit is the first of its kind." Karasu spoke in his usual quiet tone, sitting next to Naruto at a small desk._

_It was one of their study sessions. Naruto didn't like it, and he would have preferred to just train and learn cool jutsus, but Karasu had insisted that in order to be a good shinobi, one must learn not just the jutsus but also the science behind them and the history of each family and clans. Apparently, it came in handy to know the geography and strengths and weaknesses of clans in battle, or so Karasu said._

_"The blood-line limits that have to do with eyes are called dojutsus. My sharingan, for one, is one of the three known dojutsus. When yours is researched and the origin is figured out, it will most likely take a place next to the three."_

_"Wait, so how does sharingan look like? I don't think I've ever seen you using sharingan." Karasu asked in puzzlement._

_"While keeping sharingan activated takes quite a bit of chakra, once you have mastered it, you can keep it on without sacrificing too much chakra. You don't see my eye color change because I keep my sharingan on at all times. My real eye color is," and with that Karasu closed his eyes briefly and opened it again to reveal eyes with color of deep onyx._

_"That is really cool. What does sharingan do?"_

_"Sharingan allows its users to see the flow of chakra. Also, sharingan users are famous for their genjutsu abilities because they know exactly which part of the chakra flow they need to affect to get the maximum effect. This ability of seeing chakra flow also allows them to copy other people's techniques because sharnigan grants clearer vision to the user and allow the user to see how the chakra is molded in each technique. If I recall correctly, I believe I had taught you that each jutsu has its unique molding of chakra?"_

_Naruto nodded vigorously, completely entranced with the new subject. Maybe it was worth learning all this, even if it was just for the fun of it,_

_"That is how they copy the techniques. The eye stores what it sees into the short-term memory and quickly converts it into long-term memory, thus allowing the user to use the technique as thought it was his or her own. This dojutsu is passed down the line of Uchihas."_

_"That's the clan you belong to, right?"_

_"Yes." The tone was so final that Naruto didn't want to ask any more on that subject. He saw something in Itachi nii-san's eyes, something resembling a deep disappointment that wasn't directed at him but mostly likely at the clan of his. He didn't want to push it – Itachi nii-san never pushed him to talk about things he didn't want to and Naruto didn't want to make Itachi nii-san talk about things he doesn't want to._

_"What are the two other dojutus you mentioned?" Naruto asked, quickly changing the topic, albeit just slightly._

_"They are byakugan and rinnegan, but the latter is often believed to be simply a legend."_

_"Do _you_ think it is a legend?"_

_"No. All legends must begin somewhere, begin from some kind of truth, and I don't see the legend of rinnegan evolving from byakugan or sharingan. It is definitely out there, we just haven't found it yet."_

_Nodding thoughtfully, Naruto then asked, "What is byakugan?"_

_"Byakugan is dojutsu that is passed down the line of Hyugas, one of the most powerful clans of Konoha. The byakugan has a distinctive look of pale, whitish eyes, even when it isn't activated. When it is activated, the veins along the eyes bulge due to the intense concentration of chakra."_

Byakugan.

The girl was a Hyuga, but what did a Hyuga want with him? Besides, the girl looked terribly young, barely old enough to be attending the Ninja Academy, not that he had much to say for himself. Her eyes were the pale white with slight lavender tint, but has she already awakened her byakugan? That he couldn't tell. He dug deeper into his memory to recall the abilities of byakugan.

_"So what does byakugan do?"_

_"Byakugan gives the user a near 360 __º field of vision, except for one blind spot at the back of the neck above the third thoracic vertebra. This is important, Naruto. Should you ever have to fight a Hyuga, go for that blind spot. Depending on how experienced and talented the Hyuga is, the blind spot can range from 1º to 0.5º."_

_"Above the third thoracic vertebra. Got it."_

_"Also they can see through solid objects and can use a degree of telescopic sight. The distance and the degree of telescopic sight vary from person to person, just like the range of blind spot, and can be improved. Another thing you should know is that byakugan can't see through certain barriers so should you be teamed with a byakugan user and is faced with those types of barriers, you will need to resort to other methods if you're working on reconnaissance mission."_

Naruto was sure there was even more to this. Something about fist… fist. Fist.

_"Hyugas are famous for their clan technique, Gentle Fist Style. It is a style of taijutsu that can be exclusively used by byakugan users. By training their body to emit chakra from all 316 tenketsus, they give short but intense bursts of chakra into the opponent's tenketsu points. This causes the opponent's tenketsu points to close up for a while."_

_"How?"_

_"The intense burst of chakra overloads the tenketsu and it slightly melts the point. Because our body is constantly repairing itself, as long as the tenketsu points aren't too severely damaged, we can recover but if a very powerful Hyuga closed up the tenketsu will all his power, you may never recover the use of the affected tenketsu."_

_"How do they know where each point is?"_

_"This is where byakugan comes in. The byakugan allows them to see the full map of a person's chakra flow, even better than a sharingan can, and can identify each and every one of the tenketsu points. They then deliver a series of swift but brutal strokes. This style is called Gentle Fist Style because when they close the tenketsu points, they don't actually have to touch the opponent's body. In fact, touching the body will slow their hand motion down because of the friction between them. Instead, they just put their palms about an inch away from the opponent's desired tenketsu points and emit the chakra bursts."_

Gentle Fist Style. The girl standing before him seemed too young and too weak to know such. But then again, looks can be deceiving.

"Who are you?" Naruto repeated his question.

"I-I'm Hinata… Hinata Hyuga." The girl seemed extremely nervous, her index fingers meeting each other in a nervous manner. Her cheeks were the colors of a tomato, a bright red that struck out from her paleness. Other than her hair which was a dark black, thus not being able to be called a color, the red hue was the only color about her, if one disregarded the natural dull red of the lips. Her clothing was elegant, like those of rich kids should wear, and Naruto had no doubt that the famous Hyuga clan was richer than most other clans.

Wait, a Hyuga? She did say she was a Hyuga. She could be his enemy, but then, if she was, why would she tell him who she is?

He looked carefully about her, scrutinizing her emotions with his kuroibaragan. Her aura was… red. Like a tomato. Like… her face. Red usually represented anger or some other negative and intense emotion, but the girl seemed to be extremely nervous and shy. Maybe this is her first time doing a mission? First-timers didn't get dangerous missions and hurting a boy definitely went into more than genin level mission.

"Ano, nevermind… gomen, gomen… gomen nasai _(A/N: gomen nasai means sorry in Japanese. Gomen is a shortened version of it.)_ I have to go!" With that, Hinata retreated back, following the trail that Naruto had been walking in.

Naruto continued on his way and he was pleased to note to himself that he realized just when Karasu had arrived. Not that Karasu was trying to mask his entrance, of course. It was just that Karasu had been trying recently to train Naruto's awareness to beyond just noticing rustles but also feeling the entrance of a chakra source. He seemed awfully paranoid lately, Naruto noted with a slight frown.

"Hey, Karasu. You don't have to hide up there, ya know." Naruto called out to the sector of trees where he was sure Karasu was 'hiding' in.

Like a graceful ANBU he was, Karasu leaped from the trees and landed noiselessly on the dirt ground.

"Let's go." Karasu spoke in his customary deep voice, the voice-changing chip in his mask altering his voice. With that, he started to walk in the direction of Naruto's apartment as though he had been doing the very thing the entire time.

Naruto followed him and the two continued in silence. Naruto tried to see what mood Karasu was in, for he seemed a bit choppier then before. His aura was concealed as usual, but this time it seemed especially tightly concealed, as though Karasu was trying to forget his emotions. Something was wrong. A sliver of gray slipped out of his tightly-woven bag of feelings but it was tinted with just a faint shade of red, so faint that Naruto wouldn't have been able to discern it if he hadn't looked quite so closely at Karasu's aura.

What could possibly make Karasu so disturbed?

There were a million possibilities to this. It could have been just a bad mission – after all ANBU did get some undesired works – or maybe the counsel members could have been giving him some trouble. Karasu did tell him more than once to watch out for the counsel members, with an adequate warning to obey them but make sure it is for the good of Konoha, not for individual good.

Shrugging, Naruto resumed his thoughts to the back of Karasu who was couple yards ahead of him, but he staggered abruptly when he felt a stabbing pain in his eyes.

"Ow…"

As soon as it came, it was gone, and Narut squinted in the light. Was the world supposed to be sideways? Naruto's eyes shut instictively as the world soon started spinning like a top. Was it he who was spinning or was it the world? After the initial dizziness subsided, dimly, he realized he was leaning against the wall nearby that he somehow arrived at, and that a familiar ANBU mask was swimming in front of his face, the white, black, and red blending in with each other. Naruto could vaguely make out a shade of blue to in that crazy mixture.

"Naruto? Are you alright?"

Naruto blinked furiously, and the world slowly slid back to normal. He grinned enthusiastically up at Karasu.

"Fit as a fiddle, dattebayo!"

Karasu's eyes narrowed. There were a million possibilities. One was that Naruto hasn't taken his vitamins, like any six-year-old was supposed to. Or, some stupid ninja had tried to cast a genjutsu just to spite him. He cautiously scanned the area, his blood-red sharingan spinning furiously in his eye socket, but other than some passing villagers a few meters away, he couldn't find any trace of a fellow shinobi in the vicinity.

Karasu sighed. He had no time for this folly.

"Please don't say dattebayo. Come on, I'll shunshin you home. I'm in a hurry right now."

With that, Karasu took a hand on Naruto's shoulder, and they both disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

**~ xXx ~**

The first thing Naruto saw when he opened his eyes was a small blur coming quickly towards him.

"HEY MAN, HOW WAS SCHOOL?" Kano exclaimed, jumping on top of Naruto's shoulders. Both of them came crashing down onto the floor.

"Interesting," Naruto replied vaguely, prying Kano off him as he got off the floor. "Met a cool girl. She's good with weapons, I think. Didn't test it yet though, not really. Nice aim."

"Ah, a girl you might be interested in?" Kano offered up, a smirk hidden under his cap.

"A steamy night will be nice with one dog, a banana, and two drunk girls, if it wasn't for the fact that she is two years my senior and I'm only six years old." Naruto bantered back.

"Hmmm. If you are old enough to be a ninja, you are old enough for anything."

"Tell Karasu that. He's been through more and maybe he won't mind doing things in a steamy place." Naruto grinned obnoxiously, winking at Kano, to which Kano bursted into laughter.

Karasu rolled his eyes under the mask. "I don't do such."

"Reaallly?" Naruto added, his eyes lifting up suggestively. Karasu sighed.

"I have no time for this. Naruto, ramen's in the kitchen. Go to bed after you finish those katas I told you to do. And you," Karasu pointed at Kano, who grinned sheepishly. "Go home for once."

Kano ignored him, as he collapsed lazily onto the couch. Naruto was about to go check the ramen in the kitchen cautiously, (Karasu wasn't known as a good cook) when suddenly, Karasu dug into his pocket, and came up with a small package covered with red wrapping paper.

"Early birthday present," he murmured.

"Why, aren't you going to be there?" Naruto shot back, his eyes staring at Karasu suspiciously as he fingered the present. It felt heavy in his hands, and kind of felt bulky, as if there was more than one thing inside.

To Naruto's growing suspicion, Karasu's aura darkened by a fraction, not that Naruto could see a whole lot of it, although he didn't betray his expression.

"You're in the academy, and soon, you won't need a bodyguard anymore. I won't be here 24/7 forever."

And, with one quick nod, Karasu disappeared in another whirl of leaves.

The minute Karasu was gone, Naruto curiously opened the carefully wrapped package. Inside was, to both Naruto's and Kano's surprise, an ANBU mask.

It was an interesting black color, with intricate white swirls painted on it in the form of a kind of wild cat. The 3 whiskers on the side were strikingly similar to Naruto's, although they pointed downwards more to the jaw line.

Naruto picked it up gingerly, and underneath the mask was a note:

_You do not have a name. You do not have an identity. You fight and you kill and you die for the sake of Konoha. You are ANBU._

_You are Pantera._

Under the note was another one, this one by Karasu:

_When you think you are ready, you may join ANBU. The man listed was for Pantera went off duty because his family was killed and he had to take care of some things. He doesn't exist, obviously. The identity papers are enclosed inside. Happy Birthday. (Burn the notes after you've done reading them)_

"Wow," Naruto whispered, his finger tracing the white swirls on the mask. "He thinks I can make it into ANBU?"

"One day…" Kano voiced out loud, a proud smile on his face as he watched Naruto. "Jaguar-kun." _(A/N: While Pantera does NOT mean jaguar in Japanese, but jaguars are cool and Japanese for jaguar doesn't sound very cool so Pantera, it is.)_ he added cheekily.

"Okay!" Naruto said, a large grin forming on his face. "Guess I should start training more, then! Come on Kano, to the training grounds!"

Naruto grabbed Kano and they both raced outside the apartment. The 'training ground' Naruto was talking about was just outside the apartment. It used to be in use just a few years ago, but was now abandoned from being overused. There was still evidence of its past use as one can judge by the scorch marks and abandoned rusty kunai on the trees, and the many cracks and random holes in the ground. A few meters away, there was a small stream, but too shallow for any fish to live there. For Naruto and Kano, it was perfect, as they would be totally alone and undisturbed.

"Didn't have to pull me..." Kano muttered with mock resentment as they both finally arrived there, pouting adorably.

Naruto snorted with amusement before facing Kano, his hands and feet formed into the Golden Dragon style.

Kano sighed, mumbling words that sounded suspiciously like 'how impatient,' before forming into a stance Naruto wasn't familiar with. Kano had instructed Naruto that there were over one thousand different styles out there, and Naruto had to be prepared to face all of them.

Naruto respected Kano as a taijutsu specialist. A… five-year-old taijutsu specialist. Unlike Naruto, who only knew just one taijutsu style, Kano formed different stances nearly every day, and used each of them skillfully, like a master. How he knew so many was still a mystery.

Kano cracked his neck before rushing towards Naruto with a breakneck speed. Already expecting such move, Naruto twisted his body to the side, his rotating feet stirring clouds of dust on the ground. He came behind Kano with a chop towards his back but Kano reacted too quickly for Naruto's hands to meet its mark.

Kano dropped to the ground with his hands, and using his momentum, kicked Naruto in the face, sending him clear into the sky before launching some shuriken up at him. Helpless, Naruto mentally cursed and started bracing himself for the eventual pain, but his eyes turned instinctively into familiar deep reddish black, and he snapped his fingers, again unwittingly.

The shuriken simultaneously sliced cleanly in half, and Naruto landed gracefully onto the ground. Without missing a heartbeat, he snapped his wrist in an upward motion, and there was a whoosh of air as a whirl of blades formed, heading towards Kano.

Kano grinned, cart wheeled to the side, as the blades passed him by.

"Careful, baka," he taunted. "Your butter knives may be invisible, but they're still solid, and I can hear them rushing through the air."

Naruto stuck his tongue out in a rare moment of childishness, before smirking. Suddenly, there was another stabbing pain at the back of his eyes again and he stumbled. Ignoring it, he back flipped up onto a tree branch and, gathering chakra, clapped his hands.

"Fuck," Kano swore as he glanced at the ground. What appeared to be thousands of tiny black shards on the ground were actually thousands of blades hovering in the sky, the sun forming their shadows.

The blades rained down from the sky, and there was a large cloud of dust as the ground became a large pincushion.

Naruto panted heavily, leaning against the tree as he squinted through the dust, the beginnings of panic rising. It was quiet, too quiet. He was experimenting with his blades and came up with the attack just yesterday and wanted to try it out. Did he go too far? Could he have accidentally killed Kano?

"Almost got me there man," whispered a voice in his ear. Naruto finally noticed the sharp metal of a kunai poking against his back. "But seriously, you need to watch your guard. A powerful attack leaves people weak and tired. Instead of panicking, you should've scanned the area with your bloodline and checked for survivors or for an enemy watching you, waiting for an opening."

"Six year olds shouldn't swear," Naruto shot back lamely.

Kano grinned cheekily as a reply and they both straightened up. Kano glanced down at the ground, and whistled. The entire area was embedded with large cracks and holes.

"Your control is getting better," Kano commented, crouching down on the ground and inspecting the holes. "Your power too."

Naruto wasn't listening, as the pain increased until it felt like as if his eyes were on fire. He grimaced, and collapsed on the ground.

**~ xXx ~**

**Naruto opened his eyes. It was dark, completely dark. But suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his throat. It was the sword. Again.**

**'….do you have what we seek?'**

**"Oh, come on," Naruto said with a sigh, although he was inwardly nervous. "Not this dream again."**

**The voices made a sound that seemed like they were laughing, and it echoed in the darkness. Suddenly, there was an unexpected pressure on his mind.**

**"What are yo–" The day's memories flashed through Naruto's eyes. The academy, the bun-haired TenTen, when he caught Hinata, the swimming ANBU mask….**

**It stopped suddenly, leaving Naruto panting and tense against the sword. The voices were silent… and for a long time they were, leaving Naruto standing there in the darkness, in the eerily silence. Then, it finally spoke.**

**_"So, Child, I guess you do."_**

**The darkness shattered, leaving Naruto on his knees in murky water. He was back in his mind, in front of the crossroads leading to the five gates. He glanced up as the gate on the right exploded in a bright light. The kanji for 'Destiny' appeared at the top of Gate. The hallway disappeared, and in its place was a large mirror.**

**Naruto's eyes widened. His dark red eyes looked… different. Unlike before, when it was just a blank dark red color, the pupil was now visible, and while the color was still a dark red, the pupil had morphed into a three-pointed pure black star, nearly blending in with its background.**

**Naruto's reflection smiled back at Naruto, who actually wasn't smiling. The reflected Naruto then spoke.**

**_"We are….. Kuroibaragan. (A/N: Kuroibaragan means Black Rose Eye. Kuroi = black, bara = Rose… you get the point)"_**

Outside Naruto's mind, hundreds of small blades explode around Naruto in a tornado, making Kano yelp in surprise, as a myriad of sudden cuts appeared on his arms. Naruto look at the blades blankly. Unlike before, when even he the creator couldn't see them, that is, if he could even be called that, they were visible now, and were a dark red color, shaped like the broken pieces of a mirror: small but deadly.

"Can you… see them, Kano?" Naruto asked Kano blankly, his eyebrows scrunched up in puzzlement. "The blades..?"

"The what? No…." Kano said slowly, scrutinizing Naruto. His eyes widened as he took in Naruto's eyes. "Whoa! What the hell happened to you?"

Shrugging, Naruto snapped his fingers towards a tree. He watched in awe as the blood red blades suddenly bunched up, gathering uniformly to shape into a large black arrowhead, before assaulting the unfortunate tree. The tree tore in half in a burst of splinters.

Already low on chakra, Naruto falls on one knee, the world spinning dangerously. "What… was that?"

Kano tentatively approached the tree, whistling softly as he touched the leaking sap. "I think… you actually fucking unlocked the next stage." he said, a grin growing on his face. "Nice eyes, by the way. With its slightly bended edges, it looks like some sort of a black flower, spinning slowly as it floats on a puddle of dark blood."

"Stop swearing, Kano-chan," Naruto said absentmindedly, staring at the blades whirling around him.

That was the thing with Kano. On one hand, he was an innocent, hyper, and happy-go-lucky little kid, but on the other hand, Kano knows grammar far beyond his years. He swears a lot when he's in the mood and, if he chooses, assumed a mature air around him. Not only did he have a sadistic streak and a tendency for violent and extremely detailed similes, but he also knew countless shinobi techniques, styles, and has the gracefulness and knowledge of jounin. It was just plain weird. It didn't make sense either, but Naruto had learned quite a while ago that trying to make sense of them all just didn't work. It was only going to make his head hurt like crazy.

And there was the fact about his aura. Kano's inner aura, the distinct color in the deepest part of one's soul, was completely black, something Naruto hasn't seen before. Not even Itachi's, which was a shimmering silver, albeit quite dark and bearing a shade of dark gray overtone.

But whenever Naruto hinted Kano about it, he would only answer vaguely before changing the subject completely. Soon, Naruto knew better than to ask. Kano would tell him when he felt he was ready. That, however, didn't stop Naruto from being curious, though.

"Kuroibaragan," Naruto said suddenly, facing Kano. "That's my bloodline…" his voice faded away from his own consciousness as he stared blankly out into the space.

"Black Rose…" Kano commented, his hand wading through the air as though he was trying to grab something out of the thin air, though quite futile effort. "How… Appropriate," he added with a smirk.

It was nearing midnight as the duo began their walk back home.

Naruto was silent, as they walked. Or at least, one walked while the other perched on his shoulders, humming a Christmas carol.

"Soo…. Been a busy day," Kano said out loud, tapping on Naruto's head.

"Hn," Naruto murmured in agreement.

"We're continuing training tomorrow, 5:00 am sharp."

"Hn,"

"…What are you, an Uchiha?"

"….hn,"

Kano snorted. "Wonder where Karasu went…." he voiced out loud.

It was the very question that kept repeating itself in his mind.

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

_Naruto shrugged. "Dunno." They walked out the door._

_Naruto blinked furiously, and the world slowly slid back to normal. He grinned enthusiastically up at Karasu. "Fit as a fiddle, dattebayo!"_

_Karasu sighed. "Please don't say dattebayo." He deadpanned, standing back up. "Come on, I'll shunshin you home. I'm in a hurry right now."_

There was something… but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"I heard around that Karasu got transferred or something… Got a promotion into a team." Kano suddenly spoke, immediately catching Naruto's attention.

"Transferred? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, his head slightly tilted to his right.

"You know how Karasu was a solo ANBU before?" To this, Naruto gave a slight shake of his head. "Well, you know now. But once the Elders think they are good enough, or if the head of ANBUs think they are good enough, then they get like promoted to be in a team." Kano explained.

"But why was Karasu so disturbed? He didn't really seem like himself lately." Naruto asked, clearly puzzled.

"I'm not sure, actually. But Karasu won't be around anymore, though. ANBU teammates stay in a cabin of a sort, this group of dorms that lead to the central common room, just with themselves so they will be ready at all time. After all, ANBU teams get all sorts of missions at all sorts of times." Kano was most obviously well-versed in such facts.

After a moment of silence, Naruto asked, "How come you know all these things? Karasu explained all kind of things to me but never this."

There was an imperceptible moment of silence before Kano answered. "Kaa-san taught me bunch of things. You see, she wants me to be an ANBU when I'm all grown up and stuff. She herself was in ANBU back in the days and she knows a lot."

That sounded reasonable, but Naruto could still sense that Kano wasn't telling a complete truth… or was he? He didn't have any reason to lie, after all, at least none that Naruto could think of.

_Karasu dug into his pocket, and came up with a tiny red present. "Early birthday present," he murmured, as he handed it to a surprised Naruto._

_"Why, aren't you going to be there?" Naruto shot back, his eyes staring at Karasu suspiciously._

_Karasu's aura darkened quickly, although he didn't betray his expression. "You're in the academy, and soon, you won't need a bodyguard anymore. I won't be here 24/7 forever."_

_And, with one quick nod, Karasu disappeared in another whirl of leaves._

The sudden burst of memory put Naruto in a momentary trance before he came back to his senses. There was something off here, besides the fact that Karasu will no longer be around.

_I won't be here 24/7..._

What was it about that phrase that kept bothering him? Karasu's aura… it was dark… like _really _dark… and disturbed…

_I won't be here 24/7…_

Naruto hoped Karasu will be safe, and he hoped Karasu will remember him. This sense of family was precious to him – he had so little of it and he desperately longed for it. Naruto would never let it go.

_I won't be here 24/7…_

Naruto promised to himself, he will become an ANBU one day and he will become strong. He promised that when he grows up, Karasu won't have to be keep whatever it was that disturbed him just to himself. He promised himself that when he was all strong, no one that he cared about will be alone.

_I won't be here 24/7…_

It was a promise of the lifetime.

* * *

**I had to cut off here because the chapter was getting just way too long... Sorry... **

**I know not a whole lot of things happened in this chapter but please don't flame me for it. I just need to get couple things straight, like the relationship between Karasu and Naruto because they're gonna play huge roles much later on in the story, as well as not much later on in the story. Whoops, I guess I just gave you guys a slight spoiler. Hmmm, I guess I'll just have to fix that by adding more unexpected twists. I'm trying to keep this story as original as possible, though the beginning might not sound quite as original. There's gonna be some interesting plot twists, I promise you.**

**By the way, if I haven't told you guys already, instead of just focusing on the plot and the adventures, I'm going to be focusing on the development of my main characters, well, my favorite characters, that is: Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, and Itachi Uchiha! I won't slack off on the adventures though, I assure you, so don't worry about that. I'll pull them both off... somehow...**

**It's been a while since I uploaded last chapter, huh? I was so busy with my boarding school application and all, coupled up with ten thousand math competitions going on at once. (To tell you the truth, there was... let's see, two, but they are like super important kind... Woohoo. I'm gonna go onto State MATHCOUNTS competition on the March 19th and County competition for National History Day. Wish me luck! Oh yeah, I also have American Invitational Mathematics Examination [AIME] exam too on Thursday. But the good news is, all my competitions finish this week, meaning I have more time to write, that is if I don't make into the National MATHCOUNTS and if I don't go on to the State National History Day competition. :P)**

**Whoops. I was suppose to add the Kyuubi and Naruto conversation, but it would be too long then. Well, at least this chapter was more interesting (I think, and hope you guys think so too) XD AND there's no cliffhanger! That has to count for something, right!**

**If you don't know, Ookami means Wolf.**

**The five gates in Naruto's mind is really important, because each unlock something new.**

**Do you like the name of the bloodline? Because I ain't changing it. It would ruin the story :P also, do you like the name Pantera as Naruto's soon to be ANBU name? Pantera is Jaguar in… A language that's at the tip of my tongue. The Japanese word for jaguar is Jaga… And no offence, but that just doesn't sound right. *nervous laughter***

**Oh right, I might not be able to write as much as I had in the beginning though. Gotta get ready for my AP Calculus BC exam that's in the first week of May :P XD**

**Anyways, see you later.**

**- Jade Wylkyns**


	6. Chapter 5: Zapper

**I had a great Sunday yesterday. I woke up late, rolled around on my bed, got a bottle of coke and drank it as I stared at my ceiling, and plopped down on my couch when I decided it was time for me to actually get out of my bed – getting the coke doesn't count. Then I went over to my friend's house and we watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and had a great time cheering for Legolas/Orlando Bloom. Man, I love Legolas – his trick with the Oliphants is a pure genius. I'm gonna watch the Two Towers probably tomorrow or the day after. This is like the third time I'm watching this series… Maybe I should start writing FanFic for LoTR, neh? My favorite scene out of the entire trilogy is where Legolas slides down the sloped wall on a plank like a skateboard and shooting arrows. Archery's hard, ya know that? I tried it. Thought I was gonna accidently kill someone. I think I hurt a lot of trees…**

**Yay~! Spring Break! The only bad thing is that now I have to study for my AP test… Why can't they have some kind of machine that scans your brain and see if you know it or not? I don't want to waste four hours of my precious life taking stupid AP Calc BC test. Funny how I don't mind spending hours writing chapters for Memento mori.**

**Lacrosse is a great sport. Only if we were allowed to play Men's Lacrosse… then I would tackle and shove anyone in my way. But sadly the creators of Lacrosse rules were sexists and they had to create Women's Lacrosse. Gah-! I figured out how to cradle my stick into shooting position with just one hand as well as the shooting itself but I don't think I can use my awesome move because I have tendency to push with my free hand… again the bane of Women's Lacrosse. Being midfielder is great. You get to run around the field, and get occasional fouls for charging. Funny how I managed to get four fouls for charging in one game while the girls in the other team didn't get a single foul even though they pushed, empty checked, and hold-stick –ed me. Maybe refs weren't feeling so nice that day. It was pretty early in the morning after all.**

**I think ganging up on one girl in a team of four or five should be considered a foul. Maybe we could call it 'dangerous play'. Then I would have gotten the six shots. It's really not nice to gang up and randomly checking my stick. Not cool. Nor is it nice to cover my stick with theirs right after I get a groundball and check my stick (note, I managed to keep the ball in my net despite the checking) then tripping me after figuring that checking isn't working. Then another girl came in and took the ball and _that_ is definitely not nice. I think the refs should have called it foul. Why am I complaining anyways? We won that game and I scored nearly a dozen. Nothing to complain about… except the nasty bruises that are forming on my extremely soar calves. Somehow the girls managed to hit my calves without the refs calling yellow card. The refs need new glasses.**

**Ha, this time I didn't take four months to write a single chapter. In fact, I think I only took about a month. Yay for me. Anyways, on with the chapter.**

**- Jade Wylkyns**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Zapper**

* * *

"_You may call me whatever you wish…. But I'm taking your cake." _-L (Death Note)

* * *

**V**

_Bloodlines. Power. Those with power are feared, and that is the truth. The rest don't understand, and so they turn to fear. Why else would Ookami hide his? Why else would Jiraiya want me to keep mine a secret. Power is a terrible thing, but we all want it. But once we have it, what then? What will happen once you reach the highest level you can possible gain? You use your power to help others, you use it to defend your precious ones._

_But here's the real secret. Those with power are corrupted. Once you get that power, that desire to help others will turn into something different. You will eventually turn into the very thing you tried to defend against. Tried to attack. Always hated._

_**And the cycle goes on and on.**_

-Naruto

**~xXx~**

* * *

"I'm going to be gone for a while, possibly for little more than a year even."

"What?" Naruto said in surprise.

"Kaa-san said we have to go somewhere. I'll be back though, I promise. I just don't know when it will be exactly," Kano explained.

"Wh-where you going?" Naruto sputtered.

Shrugging the question off, Kano said, "Hey, get stronger. I expect you to make into ANBU sooner or later," Kano smirked, giving a half-hearted push to Naruto's shoulder. He then handed Naruto a single scroll, who in return gave Kano a bemused look.

"It's some kind of Temporary Growth Jutsu that Kaa-san created with bunch of Fuinjutsu and stuff," Kano explained. "It acts exactly like a henge except that the chakra takes the form of an older, or younger, version of yourself, and is nearly impossible to detect. If you open the scroll, there is a rather complex Fuinjutsu drawn. All you have to do is seal your 'henge' by sealing it with your blood and it'll stay on as if it was your actual body until your chakra is completely depleted or you release the blood-seal. You might want to use it to join ANBU because, truthfully, prepubescent people trying out for ANBU will get a lot of unwanted attention."

"Makes sense… I guess," Naruto replied shortly, taking a long curious look inside the scroll.

"Well," Kano exclaimed with another large grin. "See ya, kid."

"Kid?" Naruto spluttered. Kano laughed before vanishing in a whirl of leaves.

**~xXx~**

Naruto continued attending the academy as well as train by himself all the techniques and taijutsu styles taught by Kano and Karasu nii-san. It was lonesome, being by himself after the nearly constant company of exuberant Kano and imposing Karasu nii-san. Even though Naruto suspected that his academy instructors were going to hold him back a year, he really didn't care anymore. As enjoyable TenTen's and Rock Lee's company was, things just weren't right.

Things slowly became normal, although there was a deep unsettlement in Naruto's chest. First, Karasu seemed grave and disturbed about his promotion – why wasn't he happy for it? Who doesn't want to get promoted? Then Kano had to go away for mysterious reasons to a mysterious place. Why was he prevaricating that question?

Then he also realized he was weak, too weak to even dream about applying for ANBU. He had all that boastful talk about becoming the Hokage and all, but he still was no match for the Elites. Even with the training Kano and Karasu gave him, he still never could beat either of them, hell, he couldn't even land a single strike on them.

Maybe it was time he had made some changes too. Maybe it was time to take a new path for power, because right now, training alone wouldn't do much help – Naruto knew at least that much. He now had to find a better way, more effective way to hone his skills.

Then it came to him, a lesson that Karasu nii-san had taught him.

_"While the talk of this is officially banned in Konoha, I feel it is only right that you know what you really are," Karasu started, his voice as grave as ever._

_"What do you mean what I really am?" Naruto frowned._

_"You're something called jinchuriki, meaning you're the host to one of the Great Tailed Demons, a fearsome beasts purely made of malignant chakra," Karasu explained._

_The words made him realize then and there. The stares, the hatred, the repulsion… he now knew why. He was a demon…_

_"So… I'm a demon then?" Naruto asked quietly, so unlike his usual cheerful self._

_"No, you must not think that," Karasu swiftly answered. "You are the only defense between the Great Demon and the fragile world. If the Demon gets unleashed, a great destruction will come to the world. You hold the strongest Demon of all, the Nine-Tailed Fox, also known as Kyuubi. This Demon had attacked Konoha six years ago, on your birthday, and Yondaime Hokage sealed the Demon into you at cost of his life. The Demon you hold is the King of all Demons, as one of the Great Demons. You are the barrier that keeps the Demon leashed, and it is wrongful of the villagers to hold you accountable for the Demon's actions," Karasu patiently explained._

_Karasu then patiently taught Naruto all he knew of Kyuubi, at least as much as the younger boy could understand. Naruto didn't like it, by any means, but it was at least somewhat interesting, though the thought of Kyuubi, the greatest and most fearsome of the Great Demons, residing in his tiny stomach was not a pleasant thought._

Kyuubi.

As the most powerful Demon of all times, Kyuubi must have some solution for his quandary, but how did he meet it? Just _how_ did a jinchuriki talk to Kyuubi?

_"As a beast sealed in the host's body, the beast takes the ethereal shape. The Kyuubi manifests itself in the form of a cognizant being in immaterial body. While many believe the Great Beasts to be literally sealed inside the jinchuriki's body, it is a complete misunderstanding. The Great Beasts are in fact sealed within the jinchuriki's mind, like a caged animal, and its chakra is stored in the Shadow World, the original source of all chakra. If the Demon get some form of control over its host, it may manipulate the sealed chakra and draw some from the Shadow World. By forcibly inputting the chakra into the host's body, the Beast can manipulate the chakra into taking a sentient form of itself and take over the host's mind." Karasu was as patient as ever, and Naruto's large eyes followed the intriguing explanation._

_"Wait, how do you know all these?" Naruto asked._

_"I have done some research. I was there… I was there when the Fourth sealed Kyuubi. Back then, I was very young and I didn't understand many things, but the Fourth was an admirable man. He was truly honorable man, and died honorably." Here, Karasu paused infinitesimally before continuing. "I needed to understand. No one would tell me anything, even though they forced me to take on missions, and I refused to stay ignorant." Karasu fell silent._

_"Oh…" Naruto trailed off, wondering just what it was that Karasu had seen. Was he there physically as the Fourth sealed the Kyuubi? Or did he watch from afar? What was he feeling? What did he see? There were many questions on Naruto's mind but Naruto couldn't bring himself to actually ask Karasu the questions._

If Kyuubi was just an ethereal form that resided in his mind, then he _should_ be able to reach it through meditating… right? Resolving himself, Naruto entered his apartment, and meditated before diving into his mind.

After a long minute, Naruto opened his eyes, and was slightly surprised to suddenly feel the cold wetness of the water on his legs. Looking around, he found himself at the crossroads to the 5 gates. Although he was here for a certain purpose, Naruto found himself examining his vicinity, his curiosity driving him.

The path splitted into 5 different ways which separated in opposite directions as North, East, West, South-east, and South-west. Their appearances went as following:

South-West: A small wooden gate was locked with a simple padlock. There was a small square carved into the wood where the eyehole was. To any other person it might've looked like a simple locked wooden door… except for the large splash of bright orange paint on the front. It was like as if somebody had accidentally spilled an entire orange paint can on the door and didn't bother to clean it off. The door itself was rotted through the core, and, if someone looked closely, could see small bugs crawling in and out of the wood repeatedly. To say that Naruto was slightly disturbed was an understatement, and he kept a far distance away from that gate.

South-East: More noticeably menacing but less disturbing than the last one, the South-East gate was similar to a black hole, pulling in any shred of light, and leaving it as a dark swirling vortex, effectively blocking the way past it. There was no lock of any kind, as the vortex obviously made up for that. A single floating flat piece of rock was suspended near the top of the Gate by a short rusted chain, miraculously not being pulled into the thing.

East: This one Naruto was already familiar with, or at least he could feel it was. He didn't quite know why it was so familiar though. It wasn't as though he had ever been here before. The gate was bathed in a reddish glow, and pulsed something similar to a heartbeat, giving an impression that the corridor itself was alive. Unlike the other Gates, this one was didn't have a lock. _Because it didn't stop him from going through it, it stopped something from getting to him. _Naruto thought.

West: Naruto was familiar with this gate also, again for some obscure reasons, and though this one completely differed from the others. Unlike the other gates, there was no lock at all, and left a large ceiling high mirror that glinted in the dim light. Since it was parallel to the Kyuubi's Gate, it was logically suppose to reflect that path, yet as Naruto inspected it, the path behind his reflection didn't reflect it at all, as all Naruto saw was a clear and ordinary hallway. Near the top of the mirror was a square piece of marble, the kanji for Destiny glowing brightly.

North: The last gate, and easily the largest one, standing directly in front of Naruto's path. It was really hard to describe what Naruto felt as he looked at the last Gate, as only one thing came to mind. _Emptiness. _The path was long and straight and continued into the horizon but instead of leading off into darkness, led into a bland whiteness. It wasn't like a light at the end of a tunnel, more like as if black and white were completely switched around. Large white chains covered the path, crisscrossing at random intervals and nearly completely obscuring Naruto's view inside.

Naruto takes one last glance at the other four gates before following the small voices nagging him to turn to the right. Something told he was going in right direction, a voice that Naruto didn't know whether it was his or of some unknown presence, and he soon proved himself to be correct.

After a short walk, Naruto found himself directly in front of a large jail and was inwardly annoyed. It was completely silent and dark inside the cell, and if there was one thing the Kuroibaragan didn't give, it was night vision.

He cautiously came closer to the bars, and although fully expecting some kind of voice, he visibly jumped when the most unexpected kind of voice, a low manly voice that did not betray a single hint of being a demon, suddenly spoke to him.

/What brings you willingly into the recesses of your mind, jinchuuriki?/ A low tenor voice mocked him. From deep in the cell, a pair of human shaped eyes snapped open, disregarding the fact that the pupils were in a long lengthwise red slits, and the eyes of the demon fox glowed brightly in the darkness.

This wasn't exactly what Naruto was expecting. The Kyuubi no Kitsune _(A/N: In case you guys still don't know, Kyuubi no Kitsune means the Nine Tailed Demon Fox)_ was a large demon, known through its bloody history of countless trickery, and destruction. Although now that he thought about it, the Kyuubi was a manifestation of chakra, and could potentially change into different forms. But still, for it to have a human form, it was simply something that Naruto never thought of to be even possible.

"I have a proposal for you, fox." Naruto said clearly and evenly, or at least as evenly as he could bring himself to sound like, steeling himself and staring calmly back into those eyes.

/Reaallly../ It replied in a bored voice but Naruto saw through it. It would've either kicked him out or not even responded if it weren't interested.

"I want you to train me." Kyuubi snorted loudly.

"Wasn't it you who said that you didn't want a weak container?" Naruto shot back. "Anyway, I wasn't done. In return, you'll be given some limited freedom. I'm not… entirely sure yet but I've been working on a type of clone where I could potentially implant your consciousness into. You'll be able to walk out of the cage, and not stuck here for the rest of our lives."

Kyuubi actually seemed surprised at that. His eyes widened comically.

/You're…serious?/

Naruto nodded his head slowly and Kyuubi's eyes curved upwards as it grinned maliciously in the darkness.

/Seems like a good idea, Naruto! Okay, first thing's first. See that seal up there? Rip a bit off from it. Not a lot!/ it added hastily, seeing Naruto's immediately distrustful expression. /Like the tiniest piece you could ever manage./

Naruto, not believing his luck, walked up cautiously to the seemingly harmless piece of paper stuck on the jail bars. He hesitated, as he vaguely wondered if the seal, the kanji for 'Seal' written on it, had any link to the other gates, as it was similar to how there was a kanji for 'Destiny' on the West Gate.

The Kyuubi assumed that Naruto's hesitance was because he was suspicious, or so Naruto interpreted Kyuubi's actions as, so it gave surprisingly gentle words of reassurance.

/Just do it. I know that _you know _that I can't go through these bars./

Naruto walked up near the bars and examined the seal, slightly worried if ripping a piece off the seal imprisoning to the most powerful Demon Lord in existence will have any drastic consequences. Shrugging, he reached for the seal. It was only when he was an inch away from it when he felt it.

A thick miasma of bloodlust plummeted into Naruto's stomach, so strong that he froze in fear, a cold sweat breaking out on his skin. At the corner of his eye, he saw a long speeding red blur hurtling towards him. He screamed at his body to move – to dodge, to do anything – but his body failed him, and he could only close his eyes.

A long orange-red tail, slightly burning against his skin, wrapped itself around his leg and yanked hard. Unable to resist, never having learned how to defend himself in a situation where a half-crazed demon king had a huge tail that didn't even look real, more like comprised purely of chakra as Naruto concluded after observing that it was nearly diaphanous, Naruto felt himself buckling over to the ground, slamming down onto the hard concrete floor and into the water.

The killing intent lifted a little, and as Naruto choked on the cold water, he pulled himself upright on the ground, the tail still wrapped painfully against his leg.

Two large claws banged deafeningly against the metal cage, and the large sardonic face of the Kyuubi no Kitsune came closer towards him, the large feral grin visible through the bars, the once human-looking face no longer looking human but instead transforming into fox-like shapes, its fangs sharpening, the snout lengthening, and overall taking on a fiery look.

**/I have a different proposal, jinchuuriki. You have two choices. Rip the seal off this cage, and you will have the decency to fall unconscious before your body tears in half as I leave this seal, and mindlessly slaughter the entire village and others./**

The fox's grin widened ever so slightly and the bloodlust rose to a near unbearable level.

**/_Or… _Do nothing and I will drag you in here and forcefully possess you. You'll have a back row seat watching as I behead every single villager in your name before releasing control and laugh as you because a sobbing mess on the ground./**

Naruto was frozen in shock. All sorts of curse words marathoned through his mind as he quickly forced his mind to think some sort of solution for this precarious situation. He schooled his expression into a calm one before bringing defiant eyes up at the man, who now looked more like the demon fox it really was rather than the humanoid form he chose to take, and glared challengingly at it.

"The sealed can't survive without a container. And this is my mind, neh? I'll just stab myself in the brain with a kunai before you can drag me in, and you'll die with me."

Naruto dramatically raised his right hand, and was thoroughly surprised when a kunai materialized in his grip, although he didn't show it. Despite his claim, he knew he was bluffing. He really had no idea about the mind thing, and even if the fox would die with him. Hell, all he knew, the thing would burst out from his stomach the moment he died.

His heart was beating loudly against his chest as the Kyuubi stared at him in silence. For a long agonizing moment, he thought that it had seen through the bluff, before that he broke out of his thoughts by the Kyuubi.

It smirked and began to chuckle. Soon, the chuckle blew over into a full blown laugh.

/What a stupid human. Fine, I'll make you stronger. Now go./

Before Naruto could react, he was forced out of his mind, and back into reality. His eyes snapped open before he collapsed back onto the bed. He groaned as he felt a stabbing migraine forming in his head and a burning pain on his shoulders.

_Well, that was really unexpected. _Naruto mused in his mind.

Suddenly, his shoulders began to feel as though they were on fire, and Naruto quickly took off his shirt and ran to the nearest mirror to observe just what was happening. Naruto was surprised to find two identical tattoos, one on each shoulder, both of them glowing bright red that he recognized as the color of Kyuubi's suffocating chakra. The tattoos were in the shape of a bird, a bird that he quickly recognized as a phoenix, again by some unknown method as he had never seen one. The birds looked as though they were in flight, their wings stretched wide apart, soaring through the… sky, if they could, but there was one detail that Naruto noticed that disturbed him greatly. Two wings, one from each bird, met at the center of his upper spine, right beneath his neck, and their talons were locked into each other. Their eyes were the color of blood, crimson against their crimson bodies. _Wait, Talons? Since when did phoenix have talons?_ Naruto thought. The tattoos glowed briefly before settling onto a blood red color.

When he noticed another seal, this time a fast-fading black swirly seal, smack in the middle of his stomach, he scowled in exasperation. _Now where did that come from?_

"I don't get that fox," Naruto muttered to himself before putting his shirt back on and exited the apartment, intent on going about his usual routine perfunctorily, which he did.

**~ xXx ~**

Surprisingly, Kyuubi was true to his word, and Naruto felt himself being thrown into his mind the next morning. Why the Kyuubi was training him in the first place, Naruto didn't know, but he still took advantage of it.

It was like an entirely different life. If training with Kano and Karasu was bad, this was five times worse. Naruto found himself extremely busy nearly 24/7. If he wasn't sleeping his usual four hours, or the usual that became his habit after the obnoxious demon screaming into his ear, no, his mind, at four o'clock sharp everyday, he was either in the academy, meditating in his apartment, or outside training with again the Kyuubi coaching him rather ruthlessly. With the help of his new 'sensei', Naruto took his training into his own hands.

From 4:20 am to 7:50 am, there was physical training, after which Naruto had to literally sprint to the Academy. Here, Naruto didn't enter his mind, as that would be useless, and trained outside in the nearby deserted training grounds. The first few days were most agonizing, as Kyuubi demanded that Naruto needed more endurance and flexibility before trying out Taijutsu. According to the Kyuubi, Naruto had pathetically weak body and pitifully scrawny muscles. Although shinobi were naturally flexible, Kyuubi took it to the next level, and, by placing pictures and videos in his mind, displayed to Naruto abilities usually only seen by a contortionist, or so Naruto thought as he grimaced, trying his utmost to follow the Kyuubi's instruction to the letter, or as much as he could without giving up his dignity.

Naruto sighed, and tried to imitate them. He ended up with painfully stretched muscles, and one dissatisfied demon.

_This is impossible… An obese pedophile has more chance of getting it on with a Vampire._

/Train, train, and train even more, human. Now try again./

_Can we skip this…? I don't see how stretching my legs to reach the back of my head is going to help._

/Human…/

_What?_

/Shut up./

… _Screw you._

/I'm warning you, human…../

_Fine, I'll take it back. UNscrew you._

**/GET TO WORK!/**

_Alright, alright…._

Naruto began reluctantly trying to imitate the positions, muttering about a fox with anger problems…

The mental connection was first established by Kyuubi. Because of the tattoos Kyuubi had branded onto Naruto's shoulders, the two were able to share thoughts in Naruto's mind, and it would be easier to communicate by that way. It worked like talking, only you were only concentrating thoughts to each other. The only downside was a slight decrease in chakra control because of the connection with the Kyuubi, but Naruto managed to work on that later on.

Slowly, Naruto began to improve, and Naruto was pleasantly surprised when he found out the improvements. He became fitter, more agile, and more enduring, able to become a blur to a chunin and being able to run 100 laps non stop around the village. The laps made him really tired and sore, though.Naruto didn't really know why, and blamed it on his childhood, but he never managed to gain as much weight as he would have liked, and kept a slim form. While a stocky form wasn't much to Naruto's liking, he didn't exactly like the slim form either, as it reminded him of a male model. If there was one thing Naruto didn't like, it was pretty boys, and how girly they would be to keep their looks. Only if he could have some bulging muscle… then maybe he could even scare some guys off without ever lifting a finger. Wishful thinkings…

The minute Naruto left the academy, he rushed back home to meditate. The second part of training was Chakra Control and Ninjutsu. Genjutsu was a powerful kind of skill, but Naruto had simply no interest in it, and Kyuubi didn't expand on it either. Naruto suspected that Kyuubi suffered from ADHD _(A/N: For those of you unfamiliar with this term, ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)_, just like him. That accounted for why Kyuubi seemed quite unwilling to get on with Genjutsu.

_"Naruto, do you remember the three main types of jutsus?" Karasu asked._

_"It's… wait a second." Naruto scrunched up his face for a moment before lighting up. "It's Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu! Right?" Naruto answered cheerfully. Even though he was only six and he hated any form of studying, he loved his lessons with Karasu nii-san. Karasu nii-san managed to make the lessons so fun even though he was not a fun man himself, or fun boy, more like, though Naruto saw Karasu nii-san as older and more mature than any other guys he've seen._

_"Yes. Different people tend to be suited for different types of jutsus, mainly due to their personalities. The thing is, jutsus like Ninjutsu requires incredible power but certain degree of rashness because it is quite devastating frontal attack. If you're too careful, it is difficult to pull of harder Ninjutsus because Ninjutsu is daring of chakra. You must dare your chakra to take the form of the attack you want to launch and _make_ it attack." Karasu explained._

_"Whoa. What about the other attacks?" Naruto asked._

_"Taijutsu is also quite a bold attack but you need the endurance of mind and absolute control over the body. It's like fighting a mini war, with your body parts as your pawns. You need to concentrate on each movement – you cannot afford to waste a single movement. Everything has to be precise, and on the spot, or all is lost. Genjutsu requires quite different mindset from others, though. To perform Genjutsu, you need extreme concentration. You must focus your mind into a pinpoint and attack your opponent's mind, like popping a balloon with a needle. There is a reason why many people have such trouble with Genjutsu, especially among children. Children have harder time concentrating so their minds tend to waiver as they attempt to perform Genjutsu." Karasu than added, "You seem to me to be most fit for Ninjutsu, with Taijutsu as your second strongest point. You have enough rashness in you to do daring things, yet enough control of your body to launch body-to-body attacks. As for Genjutsu, I think you should delve into that a bit later, when you're older." Karasu finished._

_Naruto wasn't sure if that was a compliment or what, but he was still pleased that Karasu noticed his strength and acknowledged him as a ready ninja._

Naruto decided to put Genjutsu aside to be attempted in maybe four or five years and instead just focus on his Ninjutsu and Taijutsu.

One thing Naruto wanted to learn was Fuinjutsu, or also known as sealing jutsu. Something about that type of jutsu intrigued him and attracted him. Sealing jutsu was incredibly complex, and not very well known, or so the books he had read so far said, and Sealing Masters were only powerful if the enemy attacked them on their own battlefield, being more suited for defense and warding. But then, the Yondaime became a sealing master, and changed that. By adding seals to his jutsus, he drastically improved them, and made assassinating him near impossible. Although its popularity still remained low.

Yondaime was Naruto's hero, again for the unexplainable attraction that interested Naruto to the deceased man, and Naruto intended to follow his hero's steps and become the Hokage that everyone will remember for centuries after his time.

Kyuubi didn't understand why Naruto wanted to learn Fuinjutsu, but he still showed him the basic sealing techniques. Now, Naruto could create moderately advanced alarm seals, explosive notes of different varieties, and how to seal weapons and other items. Nothing too fancy. He was far from making his own jutsu, but Naruto dreamed of that day when he will prove to the world that he was just as good as Yondaime in Fuinjutsu and become a Seal Master.

Other than sealing practices, Naruto was able to master tree walking and water walking beforehand, able to do it effortlessly, but the level after water walking was just insane. For Naruto, anyways. He had to float leaves above his head, and not damage it in any way. The first time he tried, nothing happen. The second time, he overloaded the leaf with chakra, and it exploded into tiny green slivers. By the time he managed to get a decent mastery on it, there was a large pile of shredded leaves in front of him, not that the 'decent mastery' was much of a mastery at all, considering that he could only make the leaves float above his head for like ten seconds. He couldn't get it to float any longer.

He was inwardly frustrated at his lack of control, but Kyuubi explained it to him. Naruto had a naturally large chakra reserve, nearly twice as much as his peers. Along with the Kyuubi's chakra, this made him nearly invincible in prolonged fights…. If he ever managed to control it all, that is. Kyuubi guessed that Naruto could only manage to use half of his reserves at best. So much for the vote of confidence.

After a month of exercising and chakra practice, Kyuubi had an epiphany. He taught Naruto his first ninjutsu, the Kage Bunshin, and things skyrocketed from there.

Kage Bunshin could send all info they learned back to the original once dispelled. Since a Kage Bunshin took up a lot of chakra, this training method was rarely used. But for a chakra powerhouse like Naruto, it was perfect.

Now, Naruto could train even while at the academy, or even when he was sleeping, and most other training practices were completed in less than a week. By the age of seven and a quarter, Naruto had trained enough for the equivalent of five whole years.

After Naruto's chakra control was practiced enough to satisfy the Kyuubi, they moved on to elemental chakra. By learning Naruto's chakra element, they would determine what jutsus would be best for Naruto to learn.

Kyuubi wasn't surprised when they found out his element. Naruto was a powerful wind user. A wind user was rare, as wind was known to be violent. All Futon jutsu were powerful offensive jutsu.

But he was mildly surprised to see the shred of chakra paper also become soaking wet after being shredded to pieces by the wind. Naruto had a secondary water element. Of course, Naruto being an Uzumaki, maybe it wasn't surprising after all. Water was known as calming but powerful. While most water jutsus were used primarily for healing, the more advanced ones were capable of enough power to equal a wind jutsu.

Kyuubi was interested to see how this combination would turn out.

But what really interested Kyuubi was the chakra paper itself. When Naruto poured chakra into it, complaining that he had done the very thing before with Karasu and saying what elements he was, the material turned a pitch black before shredding into pieces, and becoming soggy pieces on the ground.

Kyuubi suspected it to have to do something with the bloodline. If that was so, the bloodline had a direct connection with the human's chakra.

He remembered one conversation with the human.

_"Oi, fox, why aren't we focusing on my bloodline?"_

_Kyuubi leaned back in the darkness. He was in his human form, as he rubbed his temples with two fingers before answering._

_/This bloodline… Is a complete mystery. I have truthfully never seen anything like it before. Jiraiya can just give up looking through your family tree, he wouldn't find anything there. You can control invisible blades and have the additional ability of an empath. But what connection do those abilities have? I have to study this before we try and practice it. All I can say is for you to practice it while in battle, and it should progress from there./_

_Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as he digested the info._

_"How does Jiraiya know my family tree?" he asked suddenly._

_Kyuubi laughed suddenly._

**_/Perceptive, aren't you, human?/ _**_He grinned, but didn't say anything else._

**~xXx~**

The days past slowly, as Naruto began to grow stronger. At first glance, he appeared to be the same dobe, the dead last of the academy. But behind the blinding orange clothes, and the large grin, was a calculating eye of a skilled shinobi.

The only real hint of his drastically improved skills, was the ninjato (2) strapped to his back. The first time Iruka sensei, the new but kind teacher Naruto got after getting held back, much to TenTen's rage, that earned Naruto's respect, saw it, he went into a full lecture on not to play with swords.

Okay, he was seven. But _still_. Naruto droned out Iruka-sensei's lecture, and waved energetically at both Hinata and Sakura, the former the very girl he had once met and the latter being a girl that he met with the start of the year. Naruto thought Sakura looked really pretty, but then, that was his opinion. Hinata blushed crimson and managed a 'meep' before ducking under the table, and Sakura half-waved at him, before freezing and turning back to Ino.

It happened only hours after the first day of the academy. Naruto was just talking to Sakura and discovered that she was pretty nice. They became friends quickly, in just couple days, but one of Naruto's classmates told Sakura's parents that Sakura was hanging out with Naruto, or so Sakura told him. Ever since then, she's been avoiding him to the point that Naruto has given up on her, although he was still feeling slightly disappointed whenever she would ignore him.

Naruto's social problem was forgotten as he came to the next stage. The day he was going to apply for ANBU has finally arrived. He was actually looking really forward to it. ANBU were known as the assassination group, and took the more… black missions of Konoha. Naruto expected to develop really fast under its influence.

**~ xXx ~**

/Hurry, human./ Kyuubi said impatiently as Naruto raced towards his apartment.

Upon reaching it, Naruto snapped his fingers, and watched in fascination as the seals on the door glowed brightly before disappearing. No matter how many times he performed Fuinjutsu, the beauty of the seals never ceased to amaze him. He entered the apartment.

With another flick of his wrist, all the garbage on the floor, and the general messiness of the room disappeared. It revealed an organized house instead, with many different books and complex scrolls on the shelves – _books and scrolls Kyuubi made him buy, taking a chunk of his allowance,_ Naruto thought ruefully. Naruto went into the drawer, and pulled out the scroll that Kano gave him the day he left.

Looking at it made Naruto slightly nostalgic, the bright laughter of Kano ringing in his ears, but he quickly cleared his head as he quickly scanned the scroll. There was one large seal with complex parts, the beauty mesmerizing to Naruto. Unknowingly, Naruto stroked the seal gently as though it was some kind of fragile object. Then Naruto shook his head, mentally laughed at himself for being so puerile, and got to work. He took out a kunai and sliced his finger slightly, just deep enough to draw blood.

_Dog, Boar, Dragon, Ox, Tiger! _**Hijutsu: Juuhassai, Henge no Jutsu.** And with that, Naruto slammed his bloodied hand onto the intricate seal before him, picturing in his mind of him as a fifteen-year-old. Naruto wasn't sure why he chose to be fifteen, but fifteen seemed right, somehow. Maybe it was that fifteen wasn't too terribly young, but not too old either. It didn't matter anyhow. He was going to be fifteen and that was that.

In a poof of smoke, Naruto transformed into a supposedly a fifteen-year-old version of himself. He looked into the nearest mirror and his eye twitched.

Naruto was tall but slim, and the muscles showing prominently on his arms. His blonde hair had become even longer and spikier, and partially covered his eyes and ears. His face has also grown as well, being strikingly aristocratic. The blue eyes had still had the same intensity, but Naruto thought it looked a bit sad. _What, sad? Where did that come from?_ The whisker marks had faded but remained on his cheeks, prominent enough to be noticed by others.

He had already taken the liberty of changing into the ANBU uniform that came with the mask Karasu gave him. With a small smirk of satisfaction, he grabbed a simple but elegant katana from his bedside table and strapped it on his back. Looking into the box, he saw that there was an optional choice of a red scarf. Shrugging, Naruto draped it around his neck, the ends flowing towards his back, the ends weighed down slightly with lead to prevent getting snagged on things.

"Guess I'll have to cover up my whisker marks," Naruto thought out loud with a sigh. He paused in surprise at his unfamiliar tenor voice, before continuing into the washroom. He really didn't want to do this, as putting on make-up in any form disgusted him. Reminded him too much of Sasuke's shrieking fan girls, who would hastily put on some lip gloss as Sasuke, a supposed prodigy of the famous Uchiha clan that was in his current class, would pass by. Then Naruto added with a smile, _Well, I guess Sasuke is not that bad. I gotta give him at least that much. Not many knows the advanced taijutsu styles._

After disguising his birthmarks, he examined himself in the mirror.

_How do I look, fox?_

/… Like a pretty boy./

Naruto scowled in exasperation.

_I mean, do I look like my seven-year-old self?_

/_Obviously. _But you can say your grandfather was once part of the Namikaze clan, who were known for their excessive amount of blondes. Banishments are common in some clans, so it should be an acceptable excuse. Be prepared for some suspicious, though./

_But will they actually think I'm a citizen of Konoha?_

/You have all the identification from Karasu's present, right? As long as you have that, they will./

Breaking out of the conversation, Naruto grabbed the Jaguar mask from under his bed, and put it on. With the ANBU mask, he cut an intimidating figure in the room, or so he thought, and he couldn't help but grin under it.

He practiced his katas for a bit to get used to the new body. After all, the jutsu only casted an illusion of your older figure, with the extra of your extended limbs touchable like kage bunshins, so there wasn't a strength bonus. Still, there was something exhilarating about being in an older body. Naruto really hated those amused looks people would give him when they see a seven-year-old training to be a ninja, that is, when they didn't realize who he was, Naruto added ruefully. Then Naruto put that thought aside. After all, today was supposed to be a great day and he refused to let any depressing thoughts ruin his day.

With one last grin, Naruto quickly did a short series of hand signs and vanished in a whirl of leaves.

**~xXx~**

The ANBU headquarters were located near the Hokage tower, for security reasons. To most, it looked like an extension of the Hokage tower, but was actually a whole different building. In fact, with the small garden in the front, and the many smiling faces and the building's bright colored walls, it looked more like some sort of a hotel than the headquarters of an assassination group.

But looks could be deceiving.

Naruto, henged as an ordinary civilian man, knocked politely on the door, inwardly thanking Karasu for teaching him the very specifics of finding the HQ and entering it, only for it to open before he could touch the door.

A small woman wearing an apron opened the door a crack and smiled. Through the gap, Naruto could see a small but homey living room complete with a fireplace, perfectly fitting with the small rotund woman before him. He waved a greeting, and her eyes flashed at the code written at the palm of his hand. She cracked opened the door a bit more, and welcomed him in.

The very second the door closed, six people flashed inside and the cheery room vanished, turning into a bare room with no windows. The lighting had a glaring quality to it, making the situation feel even more dangerous.

Naruto felt five sharp blades pointed against all his vital points, ready to kill him at the moment's notice, and raised an eyebrow, visibly impressed.

"Release your henge," stated a feminine, but cold, voice behind him

Turning back slightly, Naruto saw that the plump lady had vanished and a slender ANBU with long purple hair was in her stead instead. Naruto smirked and released it.

There was a moment of cold silence as the five people scrutinized his appearance. The purple haired ANBU gracefully approached Naruto before pressing a finger against his mask. The moment she did, Naruto could feel the symbol of the leaf village glowed at the forehead, though he didn't know how he knew, or felt, before fading away. The rest of the members seemed satisfied enough to lower their blades, though not enough to sheath them.

"Follow me," the purple haired ANBU commanded him curtly, before walking through the left door.

Naruto nodded with a slight smile, and walked behind her casually.

The purple haired ANBU, as Naruto soon learned to be coded Neko _(A/N: Neko means Cat. I'll refer to her as both Cat and Neko, just so you know)_, gave him a quick briefing of the ANBU headquarters. It sounded really impressive.

According to her, the whole building was practically underground, the entire building above ground being just for props. There were multiple training areas, for either solo training or sparring battles.

"You're going to have to learn your way through the entire building if you make in," Neko told Naruto.

Naruto rolled his eyes as the hallways were practically a maze, before the message behind the words sunk in. "What do you mean if I make in?"

"This is the team, or squad, sector of our HQ. The solo ANBUs stay in the other side."

"Wait, so I'm to be tried for a squad?"

"Yes. We have a squad with a member short and it is imperious that we replace the member as soon as possible." Neko answered in her curt manner that Naruto was starting to getting used to.

"What if I fail?"

"Then you go back to the Solo ANBU barrack."

There was a large main hall, for meeting places, although it was rarely used for that reason and private meeting rooms, where the strategists would plan their missions. All those needing new katanas, kunai, shuriken, soldier pills, uniforms, or masks could get free ones from the Supplies Room. There was also a dormitory, as most of the ANBU lived here.

They arrived in the main hall, and Naruto was surprised to see all the ANBUs – the ANBUs in squads, that is. There were about 40 members chatting to each other and sharing mission stories. He vaguely wondered how many animal names they had to use.

His bright blonde hair attracted a lot of attention, and Naruto could see the others openly looking suspiciously at his hair.

"It's because blond hair isn't very common." Cat explained from in front of Naruto. "We are wary of anything unusual. It's prerequisite to becoming an ANBU, especially team ANBUs."

"Huh."

"Don't worry. Our ANBU Recon group _(A/N: Recon is short for reconnaissance, meaning information gathering)_ checked your chakra signature and background."

Naruto suddenly worried about the background check, before realizing that Neko must have checked the background that Karasu nii-san had created for him. Naruto couldn't help but to smile. Karasu nii-san must be a genius to be able to fool the entire ANBU reconnaissance group.

Neko stopped abruptly at the door and turned to face him. "Papers, please."

Naruto dug into his pockets and handed her the papers that came with Karasu's present. The papers confirmed his identity and supposedly decided the rank he would be in, with the overview of his skills, although Naruto had a suspicion that they were going to actually test his abilities. It would be stupid to just naively trusting what the papers said.

Cat read the papers quickly before snorting.

"Hmm… Congratulations, Pantera. So you were in for Solo ANBU before, huh? Well, you will be tested to see whether you qualify or not for the team I mentioned earlier, Squad White. Since you're a noobie, let me give you a short explanation. Here in ANBU, we have squads composed of six people headed by a captain and his second-in-command. The squad does more difficult S-rank missions but you do have the option of solo missions as well. Consider it something like the genin teams, we work on team work, formations, and it is mandatory to meet with your Squad at every occasion that the captain calls for. This squad is permanent and you will expect to trust each other with your lives."

Naruto digested the information quickly. It made sense.

"Are you the ANBU captain?" Naruto asked curiously.

"No. Actually, follow me, and I'll introduce you to Zapper, our Taichou."

_Zapper? _Naruto thought.

Naruto followed Cat deeper into the hallways. Other ANBU glanced at the two figures, or more specifically, him. Although they now did a pretty good job of keeping their actions inconspicuous, Naruto waved back just to spite them.

Cat didn't pay attention to them, chatting amiably about her Taichou, her curtness gone. Naruto noted inwardly that Cat seemed very devoted to her Taichou.

"Taichou is known as Ookami _(A/N: Ookami means wolf)_. Just to let you know, he is really well-respected among the ANBU. We would literally do anything for him. He has a lot of… quirks but you'll like him. He's our division captain, leading the field division. But he doesn't believe in just staying back and commanding us, so he insisted on taking on a squad."

"He seems like a good man."

"Yes. He's one of our best." Cat was about to go on about her Taichou when Naruto asked a question which suddenly silenced her.

"Who's your second-in-command?"

Cat suddenly seemed slightly upset, the air going frigid around her. Naruto was puzzled, and was even more intrigued.

"He's the one who we need to replace." Cat began softly. "The damnable Elders… they made him." Cat seemed unconcerned that she just insulted the Elders.

"What happened?"

"The Elders 'promoted' him… more like sentenced him to death, in my opinion. He was the lieutenant Division captain, as well as being the Battalion captain of the Assassination Battalion. Now… we don't exactly know what the Elders are going to do with him, or where he's going to be placed. All we know is that the Elders have the six-month period of off-rank for our Dai ni Taichou _(A/N: Dai ni Taichou means second-in-command)_ until they have to place him or take him off ANBU. Usually they place people within couple weeks but knowing the Elders, they are going to make the most out of that ten-month period." Neko's voice suddenly hardened. "Since the off-rank period still counts as being an ANBU, Dai ni Taichou is basically like a Solo ANBU and are subject to the Elders' whims. They will probably overload him with impossible missions that I know he will pull off every single time… with worse condition."

"Why doesn't he put an appeal to Hokage?"

Neko looked insulted. "Dai ni Taichou is the most loyal person I've ever known in my life, deserving just as much respect as our Saisho no Taichou _(A/N: Saisho no Taichou means first-in-command)_. Those two are two of the greatest men ever lived. Dai ni Taichou would never refuse any missions as long as they are beneficial to Konoha, and he would _never_ appeal to Sandaime. He's one of those people who suffer quietly, just within themselves. It was only recently that we began to notice how he began to lose so much weight and become so pale. He tries to hide his fatigue after the extra missions assigned to him, but some he just can't hide and we notice them… I think Saisho no Taichou suffers the most from watching Dai ni Taichou waste away. They're really close… Dai ni Taichou is like a little brother to him." Neko ended with a dolorous tone.

Naruto didn't know what to say. He wanted to ask who this admirable ANBU was but he couldn't bring himself to, especially when Neko was obviously suffering from just thinking about him, the great person that became the victim of the Elders' craftiness. Naruto knew that the Elders' weren't exactly saints, and that they were quite manipulative and conniving, but he never thought their shrewdness ran this deep, deep enough to penetrate the ANBUs, ANBUs who were sworn to serve the Hokage and the Hokage only.

Soon, they came onto a door with the ANBU tattoo symbol on it, both of them lost in their own train of thought.

Cat turned back to Naruto. She seemed to be making an effort of clearing her head about Dai ni Taichou. Naruto decided to do the same and followed her example.

"Taichou judges people on first impressions. I hope he likes you, or else…." Cat trailed off, chuckling evilly, her voice cheerful as though the talk hadn't existed at all between the two.

Despite the cliché warning, Naruto still felt slightly nervous. Who was this Ookami, to be admired by all the ANBU?

Cat turned the knob on the door and they entered the room.

It was pretty small and Spartan; only holding the essentials. There was a small bed, and a wooden table with a single lamp. The only thing that showed that anybody actually lived here was a small picture frame on the table. Naruto was too far away to actually see the picture in the dim light.

But the most important fact was that nobody was here.

_Well that was anticlimactic. _Naruto thought. Judging by the irritated frown on Cat's face, Naruto guessed that she probably expected him here too.

"CAT!"

The two whirled around just to see another ANBU running towards them. He was of medium height and had short brown hair. Unlike Cat's mask, his was painted in the form of a squirrel.

Even with the ANBU mask on, Naruto could tell that this Squirrel person was grinning under it. He was practically radiating his excitement after all.

"Cat, Taichou is sparring with one of the new recruits!"

Naruto had no idea what was going on. One second he was standing in Ookami's room with Cat, and the next thing he knew, he was being forcibly dragged out the back door into what looked to be one of the training rooms.

Naruto grinned widely when he saw a gathered crowd of at least couple dozen ANBUs spread out along the thick glass windows. They were all looking intently into the window and Naruto could hear people betting against each other. Whatever was happening, the excitement was contagious.

"The noobie ain't getting one hit on Zapper."

"I'll bet you 100 ryo on that."

"He'll fall flat on his face!"

"…..He's screwed, hahahaha."

Naruto curiously peeked into the window and what he saw took his breath away.

There were two people fighting in the training room. One was short and on the stocky side, and had extremely short black hair, cropped close to the skull. What surprised Naruto was the mask on his face, the black swirls painted in the form of a fox.

The other person was quite tall, Naruto guessed him to be around six feet two, but was slimmer, and had the most striking, unruly silver hair, which tilted towards the left side. Naruto observed that while most ANBU had one sword, the man had two strapped onto his back. The mask was different from others, as it had both red and black painted in the appearance of a savage wolf. Naruto immediately figured out that the person could be none other than the very Ookami, the ANBU captain of Squad White, the Field Division Captain.

The two were exchanging blows at a breakneck speed. Fox had already drawn a katana, although Ookami was still blocking the slashes only with a single kunai.

There was one thing that was obvious to Naruto. Ookami was winning. Badly.

At first it seemed like they were evenly matched but when Naruto looked more closely, he saw a lot of clues leaning toward his hypothesis. Fox was sweating and obviously tired while Ookami was still calm as ever, not having broken a single sweat. The second thing that impressed Naruto was the fact that Ookami hasn't moved from one spot, meaning he was toying with Fox.

Tired, Fox retreated back a few steps, panting visibly. Everybody held their breath as Ookami suddenly dug into his pocket with all the air of a leisurely man.

Naruto sweat dropped as Ookami pulled out a (familiar?) orange book.

Fox looked flustered behind his mask, evident by his exaggerated gestures. Naruto regretted the fact that the glass was soundproof. It would have been interesting to hear what he was saying.

Cat and the other ANBU laughed at the new recruit.

"Taichou is testing the new recruits for potential ANBU. This guy was the last one, I believe." Cat explained to Naruto. "You are Pantera, right? You were a last minute addition added a few months ago, so you might have to fight him tomorrow. I recommend that you examine the fight."

Naruto gave Cat a hasty thumbs up, fascinated by the battle. Fox was changing tactics and was doing a series of hand seals in a blur.

Suddenly, he slammed his hands onto the floor, and a wave of rocks broke off from the ground before flying speedily at Ookami. Naruto was shocked when Ookami seemed to freeze up and was a split second too late in dodging and was slammed into the wall. Surely the famed ANBU captain didn't make such elementary mistake?

Cat sniggered and the smoke cleared, revealing a log. A blur came from behind Fox and Naruto observed that he let out a silent scream as his arm tendons were cut, rendering his left arm useless.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a white glowing blade flash out for a split second before Ookami sheathed his sword, his eyes still on the orange-covered book. He dramatically flipped a page.

Fox stumbled off, clutching his useless arm with one hand. By his stumbling movements, Naruto guessed that the blade was poisoned.

Fox was shouting silent curses at Ookami, who shrugged his shoulders and threw a single shuriken almost lazily at him. Fox jumped to the side, but was caught in surprise as his leg was tangled in a camouflaged wire mesh and fell flat on his face.

An ANBU near Naruto slumped his shoulders before handing another ANBU some cash.

As Fox scrambled back up, the mask broke off, revealing brown eyes and a sneering face. Fox shouted back at Ookami, and all the ANBU froze simultaneously as Ookami snapped his head up and snapped his book shut. Even though Naruto was a distance away, he could see the hardened expression on the man who looked relaxed just moments before. His muscles were taut and his eyed were hard-edged as he stared unblinkingly at Fox, his composed face not betraying any emotions.

"Oh… shit! WHAT THE HELL DID HE SAY?" An ANBU shouted from the back in apprehension.

Suddenly, Fox jumped back with sudden speed and began doing a large amount of hand seals in the air.

_Was he faking the injury? _Naruto thought.

Cat seemed to recognize the hand seals as she suddenly shouted in alarm.

"That…. Retarded son of a bitch! He's going to bring the whole house down! EVERYBODY MOVE!"

The ANBU did so quickly, ducking to the ground and Naruto's breath got caught in his throat at the sight of an enormous electric dragon before he dived down. A split second later, the entire hallway shuddered and the bulky window shattered into thousands of pieces, the glass shards raining down onto the crowd. Everybody snapped back up and peered into the room.

Fox was on one knee on the opposite side of the room. But Naruto was struck speechless as he looked at Ookami. He didn't look hurt at all. In fact, apart from the shockwave, the room still looked intact.

"What happened to the electric jutsu? That had to be at least an A-rank…" Naruto muttered to himself.

Squirrel seemed to have heard him and he turned to Naruto.

"Taichou isn't known as Zapper for just any reason." Suddenly, Naruto realized that Squirrel wasn't all quite so bubbly as he seemed. He respected Ookami, even revered him so, but Naruto felt something from him that made him sure that Squirrel could be a cold man if he wanted to. There was a certain edge about him, the readiness of an ANBU, that convinced Naruto that Squirrel's vivacious attitude just moments ago was an act, an act that he has done so many times that became him, but an act nonetheless.

Naruto snapped his head back to Ookami and his eyes widened again as the air began to thicken rapidly. His hand instinctively went to his kunai and he winced as he felt an electric shock run through his arm the moment he touched the metal.

The area around Ookami begins to glow vivid bluish white with chakra, and blue sparks dance around his body. Naruto could distinctly hear large crackling sounds like radio static.

The new recruit seemed to freeze for a moment in horror, but snapped out of it and quickly did more hand seals before slamming his hand into the ground again.

This time, a spring rose from the ground, flooding the floor. _Bad move,_ Naruto thought. _He must have realized by now that Ookami is lightning user. Water is weak against Lightning. _Naruto was inwardly thankful for the lessons Karasu nii-san taught him.

_"Naruto, there are five types of elemental jutsus. Do you know what they are?" Karasu asked in his usual soft voice._

_"No… what is it?"_

_"Elemental jutsus are jutsus that use elemental chakra. As you have learned, based on which ninjutsu the ninja uses, the amount of chakra will be different, as would the element the ninja employs. The five main elemental types are also the names for the Five Great Shinobi Nations: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. The elements balance each other out for each element has another element that it is weaker than, and stronger than. Fire is stronger than Wind, Wind is stronger than Lightning, Lightning is stronger than Earth, Earth is stronger than Water, and Water is stronger than Fire. This is the main circuit but you should know that Water strengthens Lightning attacks and Fire strengthens Earth attacks. Each ninja has the potential to better utilize one of these styles and potentially more. Some people have kekkei genkai _(A/N: Kekkei genkei means bloodline limit, or the hereditary special abilities) _that allows them to combine two or more elemental chakra to create a new element."_

_"So everyone has their elemental affinity?"_

_"Most of them do. While most have stronger affinity to just one rather than two or more, they can develop a second affinity by training hard with the element that they are second most comfortable with."_

_"So what's your affinity?"_

_"I'm mainly Fire and Water, my Fire element being slightly stronger than Water, with Lightning as my third element."_

_"Woah, you have three elements? That's so cool. What elements am I?" Naruto asked, bouncing in his seat._

_"I'm not sure, but we could always check with chakra paper. Chakra paper is a special type of paper that reacts easily to chakra and you can determine what element you are by pouring your chakra into the paper. I believe I have some with me. You could try it, if you want."_

_Naruto held out his hand and Karasu put a square sheet of paper that was the size of his hand._

_"Now channel your chakra through it. Imagine that you are just letting go of the chakra."_

_When Naruto channeled his chakra through the paper, the paper turned pitch black before cleanly slicing into pieces, becoming soggy wet as it plummeted toward the ground._

Naruto smiled at the memory. The result he got with Kyuubi was exactly the same with the result with Karasu nii-san yet Kyuubi had insisted on doing the test anyways. Maybe it was to see the chakra paper result for himself.

_"You're main element is Wind, with the second element being Water. I'm not sure what made the paper turn black, but I have a feeling it has something to do with your bloodline. Wind is a powerful offensive element while Water is more known to be calming. I think you'll create a beautiful balance with those two." Karasu explained the result to puzzled Naruto._

Naruto missed Karasu nii-san and his soft-spoken voice, and was wondering what he was doing now when the actions happening in the training room drew his attention back to it again.

Ookami quickly jumped in the air and withdrew his sword again. Now, Naruto could see the chakra sword, a long glowing white blade, crackle with electricity before Ookami slammed it point down into the ground.

As the soundproof window was in pieces on the ground, Fox's earsplitting inhuman scream could be heard as thousands of volts of electricity flowed through the water and into his body, creating a series of spasms along the way. Naruto could see discarded kunai and shuriken in the ground literally melting like microwaved butter.

Ookami disappeared in a crack of thunder, and, to Naruto's continued shock, reappeared behind Fox, clasping a gloved hand over his still wide open mouth.

"Don't disrespect the dead." Ookami whispered into his ear, so low Naruto had to strain his ears to hear it. He whipped out a kunai, and bonked Fox's head on the kunai's handle, and the latter collapsed like a broken marionette.

Suddenly, he looked up to the crowd of people outside, standing on a pile of broken glass. He walked casually on top of the water towards them, before addressing Cat.

"Number 14 is declared a fail. Tell him to hand in his equipment before leaving. Oh, and bring in a medical team."

Cat saluted Ookami before approaching the unconscious form of Fox. Ookami casually examined the broken window, before looking up at the silent crowd as though he just noticed them.

"Can I help you with something?" Ookami deadpanned.

"No, Taichou!" They saluted simultaneously before hastily leaving.

Naruto, not wanting to be standing alone with the guy, left with the crowd, and found himself walking with Squirrel.

"What... was that?" Naruto questioned him.

Squirrel looked at him with a disbelieving expression, before smirking. "Sorry, can't tell you yet. If you make into the squad, then I can tell you but until then, it's to remain a secret."

"What do you mean?"

"It's something that all of us promised him. It's a secret that we swore to protect and until you become one of us, I can't tell you anything about it."

"Oh…" Naruto was still slightly confused. What could be so major that it was sworn into secret by the entire ANBU teams? Apparently Squirrel had sensed his confusion for he began explaining a bit more.

"It's probably hard for you to understand. Taichou… Taichou is highly admired and respected. He has saved our butts countless times, and it's the least we could do for him. Not even the Hokage knows."

Whatever the secret was, if Ookami was so great that he got the entire ANBU to swear into the secret, Naruto knew that he couldn't possibly be an ordinary man. Naruto glanced back at the battlefield, his respect of Ookami rising.

"And _he's _our captain?"

Squirrel looked at him again as though he was seeing Naruto for the first time..

"Oh! You're the new recruit for our squad. Pantera, right? Yes, Ookami is Squad White's Taichou. Hey, I need to go see Taichou again for a second, so I'll see you later. I guess you'll be the next one to spar him, probably tomorrow. You might want to get a good night's sleep." Squirrel nodded at him before changing his direction toward where the captain was.

Naruto looked at the disappearing figure, lost in his thoughts.

/Welcome to ANBU, human./

_It was really not what I was expecting. I thought of ANBU as serious, and having a dingy headquarters with all that represses your emotions crap._

/You're thinking of ROOT, idiot. Were you even listening when Karasu was talking about the difference between ROOT and main branch ANBU?/

_… Not really._

/Sigh… What DO you think this is?/

_Weell, I dunno. Feels weird though._

/Crap. Human, look up. Your Taichou-to-be is coming this way./

Naruto forcibly snapped himself out of his thoughts just in time to look up as Ookami approached him, his hands shoved into his pockets. He drew out a hand and gave Naruto a two finger salute.

"Yo. I heard you were assigned to my squad as the new recruit."

Naruto was mildly surprised. With the way Squirrel was talking about him and how nearly everybody practically worshipped him, he didn't really expect the guy to be so… lax.

Nevertheless, he grinned widely under his mask. "Pantera. Pleased to meet'cha."

**TBC**

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**Whoa, that's like the shortest chapter I've wrote so far. The prologue doesn't count. Sorry 'bout the cliffhanger, if that could be called a cliffhanger at all, but if I wrote more, than I would have about 25,000 words on my hand instead of current 11,000. That would be a nightmare, neh? Besides it was a good place to stop. :P XD**

**The thing about Kakashi will be revealed in the next chapter. Kakashi is NOT a god, but he is a badass and he deserves to be cool. Is it a jutsu that he developed? Or is it some kind of bloodline? I'm not telling you yet. Just be patient.**

**One thing for people who don't read the details, KYUUBI IS A GUY. I really don't want the Kyuubi to be a girl. It's just… weird. Like, it takes out the menacing evil fox's reputation by a landslide. Besides, the only way I can think of to make Kyuubi a girl is to make her some kind of demon bent on seduction and I'm not about to have a big breasted fox lady running around baring her chest to a little seven-year-old boy, whispering obscene stuff into his ears. You know what I mean? And no, Kyuubi will not be a goody goody fox. But he won't be necessarily evil as well.**

**Anyways, please review. They really motivate me.**

**- Jade Wylkyns**


	7. Chapter 6: Cat vs Dog

**Rumors are annoying. My schoolmates are under this crazy delusion that I'm going out with our school president (which I'm not, by the way) and keep on making jokes about it. Apparently they think I'm a dumb blonde who goes after any guys she can find... Neh, not all blondes are stupid. I know quite a few really smart blondes and one of my best friends was blond (but she moved away to New York which is not cool...) Besides, I'm not even blonde. Haha. I bet I'm the only one laughing at my lame joke. Anyways, the school president is my close friend, not my boy friend. I'm not even interested in guys, which my guy friends for some reason find puzzling, or so they told me. And then they would try to guess my sexual orientation to which I laugh and tell them I'm les (which I'm not, though I'm not a homophobic) and that I'm head over heels (I never got this phrase. Isn't head always over heels?) for my awesomest lacrosse buddy.**

**Anyways… Hey people. Here's chapter 6 :P. There's few fighting scenes… not a whole lot but enough for me. I don't think I really like writing fighting scenes… so hard to make it interesting. I hope you guys won't find it too dull.**

**Naruto's personality is kind of hard to describe. I'm trying to show, not tell, but I'm not sure if I'm succeeding very well. I'm not trying to make him too AU or else… he wouldn't be Naruto, y'know? Even though he might be a bit more mature, sarcastic, and collected, he's still Naruto and has his fun/awkward moments.**

**Sorry for such a long A/N but you guys were commenting stuff that would make any author feel like they were floating in the clouds and asking great questions that made me smile so much that my mom thought I was high on sugar (which I kinda was. I was having a private coke party with myself. XD). I thought others might appreciate knowing a bit more about this story and so even though I do reply directly to the asker, I decided to post my answers here as well.**

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**Chapter Four**

**ChronoMitsurugi** voiced a great concern in the review for chapter 4. (S)he was worried that this story might end up as harem and (s)he isn't very comfy with those. Well, to anyone else who share the concern with her/him, I'm really not planning any pairings. As I had replied to her, I'm not very big on romance and I personally think Naruto has better things to do than have a complicated love life. There might be few light relationships that he might just dabble in, but I'm not planning on anything serious. There may or may not be one in the sequel that I'm thinking about (yeah, I haven't even gotten the story really started and I'm already have the entire plot of its sequel mapped out) but no guarantees. It won't be harem though. I'm not much for those kinds of things.

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**Chapter Five**

**RedRangerBelt** asked about Kano and his mysterious knowledge. Well, the secret behind Kano, I'm afraid, won't be revealed until a bit past middle of the story. It's pretty complex, that's all I can tell you. It took me quite a while to get them perfect. Also, the change in Kuroibaragan isn't really unlocking a higher from of his bloodline nor is it a new ability. This is also complicated but it will be answered along with the secret about Kano and the meaning of black in aura. Besides, who said Kuroibaragan is a bloodline? (evil smile :P) The mission that Elders were talking about… hmmm… when I was writing that, I had this urge to wring their neck, y'know? And no, it's not about Uchiha massacre… but it's kinda related… kinda.

**Tristan76** mentioned that circumstance about Kano was bothering him. Yeah, I get what you mean. It sounds like I'm trying to make an all-perfect kid hero who pops up just at the right moment like the batman or superman or whatever and saves the day. I really enjoyed reading your theories. He had four theories on Kano: 1) A recently dead little boy possessed by Minato whose soul was "touched" by Shinigami and became pitch black. 2) Naruto's physical representation of his bloodline (this is actually a great theory. It's not quite it but you're touching on it). 3) A relative, friend or teammate of either Minato or Kushina. (Haha, I've never thought of Kano that way. Nice try though). 4) Sarutobi under an advanced Henge. (I actually cracked up after this :D) No, it's none of these, well #2 came close. You'll be surprised at how right/wrong you were.

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**Chapter Six**

**Tristan76 **commented on my comment about Kyuubi's sex. Well, I guess it's time for me to comment back. I agree with you on your analysis of man and woman, and I also agree that Kyuubi isn't really a certain sex but embodiment of whole. However, in order to give a human appearance, I had to choose a sex and I decided that male form suited his personality better. But, as the story goes on, you'll notice that (*slight spoiler… not much though) Kyuubi seems less like a human than a presence in Naruto's mind. He might seem a bit more… ethereal. By the time I'm in the main plot of this story, things will probably make more sense, about why Kyuubi's sex would just become so meaningless and etc.

**RedRangerBelt **was asking some great questions. Where Kano went ties in with his secret so it'll be answered much later. He'll be back, but not very soon, though. But you'll see him again. Team White's second in command is yet to be revealed. Your guess is pretty good though. This is one question that you'll be answered in about three or four chapters or so (I think). Again, I myself never said anything about Kuroibaragan being Naruto's bloodline. It may or may not be. The chakra paper turning black has its own reason that will be revealed along with the secret behind Kuroibaragan. Wow, there's a lot of secrets aren't there? I'll try to make the secrets be worth all that reading. It'll be nothing like anything that you've ever read or even dreamed of. :P What Fox said will be revealed in form of flashback so far into the story that you guys would have forgotten about it by then. Hehe. Good guesses though. Does Kano have Kaa-san and how does he know so much? Maybe. This all ties in with his origin.

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**I hope you guys enjoyed reading my answers and thank you for those of you who took time to review. Sorry for taking so long to get through them. The questions/comments were really fantastic and I thought you guys might like to have some in depth knowledge of this story. Next time the answering won't take quite as long as it did this time around.**

**Anyways, on with the chapter.**

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"_Be good, and you will be lonesome,_

_Be lonesome and you will be free._

_Live a lie and you will live to regret it,_

_That's what living is to me."_

- Jimmy Buffett, That's What Living Is To Me

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**VI Cat vs Dog**

_Being a part of ANBU was supposed to be a test of my skills. Could (technically) 6 years of training be enough to get into the ANBU Black Ops? The best of the best, the dark assassins of the leaf?_

_I grew up quickly in those halls. I ran, bled, and killed for the sake of Konoha, and to get stronger. And I did. But Kyuubi thought I was pushing it._

_Think of a normal boy determined to become stronger; to become a ninja to protect his precious ones. He becomes a genin, and soon becomes friends with his cell mates. His first mission was a boring D-rank mission consisting of weeding the neighbour's garden._

_Me, I'm not a normal boy. I **was **determined to become stronger. But I became ANBU, and on my first mission, I killed over 10 people in cold blood. So, although I was just a 10-year-old, I really wasn't._

-Naruto

**~xXx~**

"What possessed you to get those tattoos on your shoulders?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. He was in one of what probably hundreds of rooms in the ANBU headquarters, and finally getting his tattoo. The problem was that his red bird tattoos covered the entire part of both shoulders as well as going across his back. There was an unknown rule that the ANBU symbol was to be tattooed on one shoulder but it wasn't really possible now.

Truthfully, he really liked the red tattoos. The ANBU uniform didn't have armor on the shoulders, leaving it bare. Thus, the red tattoos were openly shown. Did it make him feel badass? Why yes it did. Just don't tell Kyuubi that.

"Just put it anywhere but my face, thanks."

"Kaay," the Tattoo artist said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll put it on your lower left upper arm then."

He reached for Naruto's left arm only for it to be jerked back.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, how about my right arm?"

The man rolled his eyes before removing the ANBU arm guards off his right arm. After a few painful minutes, he finished. He rustled around in the nearby drawers before pulling out some white bandages and wrapped it around the arm.

"Keep the bandage on for 24 hours, ya hear?"

Donning back on his mask, Naruto waved lazily over his shoulder as he got up from the chair and went to the door. He was just about to open the door when it slammed open in front of him. Naruto blinked up at the slightly taller figure of Squirrel in front of him. Man, he loved his new height.

"There's a Squad Meeting, Pantera. Since you've just gotten the tattoo, you wouldn't have felt it, so I came to get you."

"Felt it?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"When the Taichou calls for a meeting, the tattoo would burn slightly, but we haven't applied the jutsu to yours yet. Now come on, let's go! You need to be tested to see if you qualify."

Naruto managed a brief thanks to the amused tattoo artist just before he was dragged off down the hallways by clipped ANBU. Squirrel led him through a dizzying number of hallways before stopping in front of a door, unique by its pure white color compared to the other wooden doors.

The door opened with a loud squeak as the two entered.

The room was pretty bare, with a concrete ceiling and floor. In the middle of the room was a large square wooden table, surrounded by various different chairs and couches.

Five ANBU masks looked up simultaneously as they entered. Naruto immediately recognized them, except one, including Squirrel, as the five ANBU who had escorted him into the headquarters from before who Naruto had already supposed must be one of the squads.

The only one he had really recognized was Cat as she was the only one he had spoken to, immediately distinguished by her long purple hair and her cat ANBU mask. She was sitting on the far side of the room on a wooden chair, and waved coolly at him.

Squirrel cleared his throat. "Squad White, meet Pantera, our new squad recruit."

The members scrutinized him carefully, especially an ANBU wearing Hawk-looking mask. It was a bit uncomfortable, getting such intense stare, but Naruto held his ground. Although, the one lounging on the couch wearing what appeared to be a Dog ANBU mask, seemed to be more like scanning his entire body, looking at him up and down.

"A blonde, eh?" He drawled in an approving voice. Cat snorted in amusement beside him and Naruto cringed inwardly.

Finally one of them stepped forward.

This ANBU was the only girl in the squad besides Cat, or at least only one who looked like a girl, and her mask was slightly different, as it was completely white with only grey lines to distinguish the animal, a bird. She was slightly small and slender, leaning towards more to a petite young girl yet to come of age than a battle-hardened ANBU, and had waist length brown hair tied in a low ponytail.

"Dove. Pleased to meet you," she said politely in a surprisingly soft soprano voice. "And that is Hawk," she added, gesturing towards the Hawk-masked ANBU that was still staring at him, his muscle still tense, which Naruto chalked it up to one of those weird ANBU paranoia. His seemed to be a bit overboard though. The ANBU stood up and walked up to him, holding out his hand, his physique tall and muscled, radiating danger from every part of him.

Naruto grinned. "Jaguar." He shook Dove's hand warmly before shaking Hawk's as well. Hawk's grip was hard and it reminded Naruto of sudden darkness, like midnight. Even without anyone telling him Naruto knew that there was a history behind this imposing man, an ugly history.

"Oh, so that's what Pantera meant." Another ANBU said suddenly. He was taller than average and had a slightly stocky built. Brown, spiked back hair was visible behind a more menacing mask of a bird of prey. "We all weren't exactly sure."

He smiled. How Naruto could see that, he didn't know. Maybe he had sensed his aura or something. "Eagle." He said, thrusting out a hand. Naruto accepted it with another grin.

Suddenly, Eagle paused for a second, before cocking his head slightly to the side. "You can see them too. Their memories, I mean." His voice still held its pleasantness but there was a slight hardening about the edge that Naruto could feel. The way he said it was more like a confirmation, than a question. What was he? But before Naruto could reply or ask anything, Cat laughed good-naturedly, though Naruto could sense certain nervousness about her that she hid, before tapping Eagle lightly on the shoulder, after which Eagle went back to his seat and plopped down in comfortable position.

"Don't mind Eagle. He's… just been through a lot." Her voice had ill-concealed pain before she quickly hid it. Naruto saw in his peripheral vision that Eagle's hands were clenched into a fist and his muscles were tense, and wondered what had happened. "Anyway, Hyena, aren't you going to greet Jaguar as well?" Cat spoke cheerfully, completely different from how she had been just moments ago, playful threatening tone directed at the last member of the Squad yet to be introduced to Naruto.

The person Naruto had previously assumed was Dog, but really Hyena, had shoulder length black hair tinted brown. It was unruly and unkempt and frequently fell into the eyeholes of his mask. Hyena looked up from the couch and waved his hand up energetically in the air as if he was asking permission for a question.

"Yes, Hyena?" Cat said with a sigh, though Naruto saw that she seemed relieved that the subject had veered off the dangerous territory.

"I want to spar with the rookie." he whined. "Taichou isn't here, so can I..?"

"Well…" Cat said thoughtfully. "We_ should_ get a grasp on Jaguar's abilities… and while Saishou no Taichou is supposed to test Jaguar, since he's not here I guess we can't. It's still possible that Taichou is just getting held up with some mission reports or something…"

"Pleeezzze?" Hyena begged in most un-ANBU –like manner to which Naruto couldn't help but to slightly smirk at.

"That's fine with me!" Naruto said quickly, trying and failing not to grin. He's been grinning way too much lately. But a _spar_. With an experienced ANBU. Naruto was mentally jumping up and down with excitement.

"Well, alright then! To the training rooms!" Hyena declared, walking dramatically out the room.

Dove shook her head slightly before following after his heels, everybody in tow. Squirrel walked beside Naruto, both of them silent. Cat joined them, giving some information on Hyena to Naruto.

"I normally wouldn't just give other people information on my squad members but I think you're a pretty decent kid and I think it will be good experience for Hyena to be humbled a bit." Squirrel chuckled to this, much to Naruto's surprise as he didn't really seem the type. "Hyena is our close combat fighter along with Taichou and Eagle. He combines his fire element with his clan jutsu and is very proficient at kenjutsu. Above average, anyway."

Suddenly Squirrel added in, "He's nowhere near Konoha's sword master, Hayate, of course, but there isn't many sword masters around." Naruto wondered why the aura he felt from Cat suddenly went a shade redder. Man, this emotion sensing was pretty interesting. He didn't even have his Kuroibaragan activated.

Cat continued, "Anyway, you see his mask? It looks like a Dog more than a Hyena, right? Well, that's because Hyena is officially listed as Dog, but everybody just calls him Hyena."

"Er, right." Naruto said in puzzlement. _Why Hyena?_

**~ xXx ~**

The squad arrived in one of the more private training rooms, for practice with Squads. It was a basic, bare room with the ground covered in some gritty substance somewhat similar to a dust road. The two challengers stood near the middle of the room, their masks glaring at each other, Jaguar versus Hyena. The rest of the Squad stood outside near the window. Hawk leaned against a sidewall, looking out the window disinterestedly. Naruto wondered if he ever joked before or if he even knew what joking was. Dove and Eagle had drilled a few holes in the glass so it wouldn't be soundproof, an action that Naruto wondered if they didn't have to pay for or something, and they all waited patiently.

Naruto slid into his taijutsu stance, looking over coolly at Hyena. Hyena growled loudly, and cracked his knuckles.

"Let's see that pretty little face." he half-mocked before disappearing in a blur.

Hyena was a close-ranged fighter, which was perfectly fine with Naruto. Because Kano also focused primarily on taijutsu, he was used to fighting this kind of battle and blocked the punch with ease. Kano. Naruto missed that little brunette… but now wasn't the time to think about that. His armguard had just cracked slightly under the pressure.

_Brass Knuckles? Should avoid those._

From that point, it became a pure taijutsu battle, neither wanting to 'resort' to ninjutsu. While Naruto's Golden Dragon Style relied on speed and flexibility, Hyena's used brute strength and counter attacks. Their two distinct styles were completely cancelling each other out. This was the first time Naruto had really fought against Hyena's style as Kano's slightness didn't allow him to use such moves against Naruto but he quickly figured that the basics were all same. Hyena grimaced, the rookie had a pretty decent speed.

As if reading his mind, Naruto smirked under the Jaguar mask, and threw a sudden swift punch at Hyena's neck which was dodged at a hair width apart. Naruto contemplated for a second whether he should use his Kuroibaragan before deciding against it. He still remembered Karasu nii-san's warning.

_"Naruto, your Kuroibaragan is your one trump card. Don't use it unless you have nothing going for you and there is nothing else you can do. Less there is people who know about it, the better. Do you understand?" Karasu asked in stern voice._

_Naruto was using Kuroibaragan in a training ground where six newly made jounins, most likely friends from genin times, were training nearby when Karasu had caught him. The jounins had noticed the strangeness when a thick branch of a large tree suddenly sliced cleanly off the main body without any trace of weapons. They had looked at Naruto with puzzlement and curiosity, quickly turning to disgust when they had noticed who he was._

_Karasu nii-san was just passing by when he had sensed Naruto's chakra and decided to stop by. When he saw the situation, he quickly subdued all six of them in a fast sequence of taijutsu, pressing his fingers delicately on what Naruto observed as the pressure points, and had them all down in less than half a minute. He then proceeded to perform a jutsu on all of them, a jutsu that he later explained to Naruto as memory erasing jutsu that is classified to only certain ANBUs. He then described the severity of his actions and reminded Naruto of what his godfather, Jiraiya, had warned him. Naruto was ashamed that he didn't check for other people around before jumping into his training and promised Karasu nii-san never to do it again._

Naruto instead pulled out couple tiny blades that he had customized with help of Karasu nii-san. He stared at it fondly, remembering Karasu nii-san.

_"It is always smart to be equipped well, regardless of when and where. You never know what will happen, and besides, it'll come in handy in dangerous missions. If you get captured, while you should just hope that the enemies will miss your weapon, the tiny blades can be more well-hidden and increases the chance of you being more armed."_

_"Oh… so what should I carry around?"_

_"Many ninjas of high jounin rank or ANBU rank usually create their own weapons, designed to magnify their strength and make up for their weakness. I will create one that I think you'll find easy to use and incredibly effective. However, you'll have to create one that embodies you later. Weapons are like the extension of your body and so your body must be able to communicate with your weapon."_

_"Cool! What are you going to make? Can I watch you make it?" Naruto was excited. His nii-san was going to create a weapon for him!_

_"Sure."_

_Karasu nii-san bought a thin sheet of steel alloy with titanium covering. Naruto wondered what kind of weapon could be made from a medium sized sheet of metal that didn't even reach half a centimeter in thickness. It looked to be barely 1 or 2 millimeter and like any scrap of metal, nothing special about it. Then Naruto sensed Karasu nii-san starting to concentrate his chakra to his hand, his hands directly over the sheet of metal, by chakra-sensing that Karasu had taught him how to a while back, and saw a thin beam of what looked like water shooting out of his hand. The beam looked to be less than half a millimeter in diameter and extremely concentrated. Karasu moved his hand over the metal, drawing a shape, and Naruto noticed with much surprise that the metal was getting cut in a shape of blade._

_After cutting the square piece of metal out, Karasu then proceeded to sharpen the edges, not only one side but all four sides. By the time he was done, Naruto saw a dangerous looking blade gleaming in the light, barely longer than his longest finger but deadly. Karasu nii-san then took out black moldable rubber looking clay that Naruto had failed to notice before and wrapped the blade in it, the clay thinly covering the sharp edges. He proceeded to make two dozens of them before putting them in a pouch and giving it to Naruto._

_"These are the blades that I had thought up last night. I think it'll prove its usefulness once you get into higher ranks. Keep it with you at all times but don't use it too often. It's better to keep them secret. While I was making them I coated it with some chakra so to make it chakra conductive. When you throw them, throw them with the coating on and channel your chakra into it. The coating should fall off as it flies."_

_"What about practicing with it? Won't I need to practice how to use them?"_

_"Of course you do. That's why I'm going to make you the practice blades that aren't as sharp as them but sharp enough to be of use in battles or skirmishes."_

_Karasu nii-san then created another two dozen from the remaining sheet of metal and this time slightly blunted the edge so that it wasn't quite as dangerous. Naruto didn't believe that it would cut through anything. When Naruto voiced his doubts, Karasu nii-san gave a low chuckle before taking it out to the training ground, to where Naruto followed dutifully, and flicked it to a young tree growing across the training ground. Much to Naruto's surprise, the tree was sliced across and he saw that the tree was at least 2 inches in radius._

_After retrieving the blade and returning to Naruto's place, Karasu nii-san wrapped them in the rubber-like material, this time in grey, and gave them to Naruto._

_"In battles, you should use these ones instead of the ones I gave you before. The ones before are too dangerous. You'll know who you should use those against. I trust your judgment."_

_"Thank you so much!"_

Naruto fingered the grey clay-coated blades before flicking couple in an arc, a technique that Naruto figured out made the blade return to the owner while slashing the object again, channeling his chakra into it, at Hyena who staggered back, arms covering his head, as numerous _things_ began painfully making slashes along his arms, and chest, shredding the cloth and making long scratches against the armor. One even sliced a part of his armor and the part clanged down to the ground as Hyena busily tried to locate the blades.

Cat whistled. "Looks like our rookie got the first blood."

Hyena seemed to stare at the numerous cuts, but then snarled loudly, a feral sound that reverberated in the room. Claws appeared on his hands, and vivid yellow eyes glowed briefly in the mask. The cuts closed in a hiss of steam and one particularly deep gash slowed down to a sluggish trickle of blood.

/Feral appearance, minor regenerative ability boost, yellow eyes… huhuhuhu, the enemy is an Inuzuka, human./

Along with those traits, there was an increase of speed. Naruto found himself backing up as he struggled against the fierce onslaught of his attacks. Minor cuts appeared on his arms, and legs, before he finally had enough. Thinking fast, Naruto threw down a smoke bomb, and released a wave of shadow clones before retreating.

The smoke bomb was a special kind he had developed himself. He had listened to Karasu nii-san and researched what kind of weapons were within his ability. He then discovered that one can combine a jutsu with seals to create bombs. Naruto tweaked with some seals on regular smoke bombs and changed it to not only cover a big range, nearly half the room, but it also to release a putrid smell similar to rotten eggs. Not wanting to waste the moment, Naruto took a deep breath and created five hand seals in rapid succession. He simultaneously released his shadow clones and info crammed into his mind. Naruto turned towards the left side of 'smoke cloud,' where he knew Hyena would be, disoriented from the unexpected blindness. He cupped a hand around his mouth.

**Fuuton: Daitoppa**

The giant, deadly gales of wind blew away all the putrid smoke before slamming into Hyena. Hyena was blown off his feet and flew in a wide arch in the air before colliding into the wall in a large cloud of dust.

"How much chakra did he put in that thing?" Cat exclaimed in excitement to Eagle as she watched the spar. "That was one exceptionally powerful Daitoppa. Does he have a wind affinity?"

Eagle merely smiled, but Cat noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. She quietly sighed to herself before turning her attention to the two.

Naruto squinted through the dust cloud and his blood froze when it revealed… a log.

**Kaiton: Rouga (Fire Release: Wolf Fang)**

He whipped around just as a large suspended tornado of fire rammed straight into his head, sending searing pain through his body and sending him a few decent feet away.

Hyena crouched down against the ground, panting slightly. The Kawarimi no Jutsu was a close call. The gale had actually managed to break his ANBU mask nearly in half, before he had enough time to do the seals. The absence of the mask revealed a man in his early twenties, with long black bangs partially covering his bright yellow eyes. While there wasn't any of the Inuzuka clan's characteristic red fang tattoos, there was a single jagged scar running along his left jaw.

He smirked, _oh this was fun_. He broke out of his thoughts as turned his attention at the rookie, trying to make sure he had defeated the rookie.

Naruto jumped back up quickly despite the throbbing burns along his neck and arms. He didn't bother to check them as they would fully heal in a few minutes. Besides, after the relentless drills from Karasu nii-san, Naruto learned to always cover his body with thin layer of chakra to shield him from the very brunt of damage from any jutsu. Naruto always thought it as one of Karasu nii-san's paranoia but he complied, not willing to have a contest of wills with his nii-san. It might just have even saved his life, or at least his looks. He mentally thanked his ex-teacher. Suddenly, Naruto heard a crumbling noise, and felt his mask, cracked in two places, shatter and falling in pieces onto the ground. He frowned momentarily. They _did_ have replacements for those things, right?

On the other side of the room, the entire squad members, not that there was a whole lot of it, watched in stunned silence.

Oblivious, Naruto felt a strong sense of irritation of borderline anger at Hyena. He threw a rapid burst of shuriken and kunai as Hyena just stared, gaping openly, at him. He managed to dodge the projectiles at the last possible second, and they thudded dully on the ground near his feet.

A large and rather creepy grin formed on Hyena's face.

"Well, well, the rookie finally shows his face. And what a….. _nice_ face it is too…"

Naruto spat out blood that was pooling in his mouth from the punch that he couldn't dodge earlier. "You're paying for that mask…"

"Bring it, rookie."

Both of them smirked, and both Hyena and Naruto unsheathed their katanas before disappearing in a blur.

The katanas met with a loud clang in midair as the two rapidly charged each other. The two began exchanging blows again. Cat whistled softly as she watched the spar. The two looked more like they were in a sword dance than in a deadly spar. They twisted and turned just a split second before being nearly sliced in half by the other person's blade. To be able to predict Hyena's movements at that speed… the rookie was good, she had to give him at least that much.

Suddenly, the blades met in a loud screech of metal, each trying to push against each other. Naruto was soon distracted from the stalemate that he found annoying though, by a sudden ear-splitting sound close to his ear.

"HYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hyena started laughing insanely in a high pitched voice as his katana began to burn red hot with a hissing noise.

/So _that's _why he was called Hyena… Wow./

Naruto watched as his katana began to melt under the heat, briefly wondering how Hyena's katana still managed to stay intact. Then, with a loud snap, his blade broke in half at the hilt, and Naruto had to block the burning sword's impending slash with a kunai he quickly whipped out, which also began to rapidly melt.

"KAI!" Naruto yelled, bringing his other hand into the release seal. In a large poof of smoke, the shuriken lying forgotten on the ground from before transformed back into a large group of shadow clones.

The nearest one quickly tackled Hyena who was too concentrated on Naruto in front of him that didn't notice the attack from behind, and he barely had the time to widen his eyes before he was suddenly disarmed and pinned to the ground by seven separate Naruto's.

In one swift motion, Naruto jumped up right above Hyena, and made five familiar hand seals before bringing his right hand to his mouth.

**Fuuton: Daitoppa**

Hyena screwed his eyes shut, his body tense and waiting for the impending gale, but it never came. He cracked one eye open, just to see a smirking Naruto holding him at sword point the sharpened point aimed right between his eyes…. Well knife point, since it was a kunai.

Naruto smirked in triumph and Hyena scowled as the shadow clones disappeared in a large pop of smoke.

Hyena staggered upright. He looked like a mess. The ANBU armor was torn and shredded in some places and his chest armor had a large slash across the middle with its lower part sliced off. His mask which was broken in half with numerous spider web of cracks stretching across it was lying abandoned couple yards away, the broken pieces held together only by the securing-bands.

Not that Naruto was looking his best, but it wasn't that bad. He also had numerous tears in his clothes and a completely shattered mask. Naruto hoped that nobody noticed that his cuts had healed already.

Hyena spat out blood before grinning wildly, showing his crooked yellow-stained teeth.

"You win this time, rookie. But one day, I _will_ top you."

_Hey fox…_

/What, human./

_This guy creeps me out._

/Urgh, me too…/

Naruto looked down at his now broken katana before sheathing it. The adrenaline rush was slowly fading, making him suddenly aware of his suddenly sore muscles. For some reason, the feeling only made him grin. He did it, he actually defeated an ANBU. Naruto had always known that Karasu nii-san was holding back on him and he still wasn't able to beat his nii-san. He was starting to think that he would never become strong enough to last his own in a war.

_I mean, Karasu nii-san didn't even look like he was trying. He was just toying with me,_ Naruto thought.

/You're nii-san is a special case… There is something about him that makes him stand out from others. He's powerful, far more powerful than most ANBUs grouped here. I can feel that potential in him, like a blazing red warning light. He could probably defeat the entire White Squad and still escape unscathed. Of course, your taichou isn't included. I still need to figure out your taichou./

_Well, make sure to tell me when you've figured it out._

/Ungrateful brat./

_Hey! Come ON! I DID beat an ANBU, didn't I? I at least deserve some praise._

/You're still nowhere close to Karasu. When you get to his level, then maybe I'll say 'Nice job.' If I feel like, of course./

Naruto just mentally stuck out his tongue at the annoying fox.

Suddenly he was suspicious. How did Karasu nii-san make such a good impression on Kyuubi? When Kyuubi talked about nii-san's potential… it was as though he was talking about potential an unexploded bomb had, that dangerous edge of his voice. It's as though… he was warning him about something, something concerning his nii-san. Naruto then shook off that thought, berating himself for being so paranoid. Surely Karasu nii-san could take care of himself, Naruto thought and changed his direction of thought.

Anyways, he won! Naruto let himself a wide grin, proud of himself. Every second he had let Kyuubi, Kano, and Karasu nii-san _(A/N: Woah, there's so many names starting with K that Naruto associates with, aren't there?)_ torture him was worth it for this.

"Oi, rookie." Hyena scowled, seeing the grin. "Rematch. Now."

Cat rolled her eyes, before coming up to the two. The sudden turn around truthfully made her excited. Spars between members weren't very uncommon, but they didn't usually put in everything they got. She raised an eyebrow at the grinning blond, his intense blue eyes filled with pride, but averted her eyes as she came closer.

_I have a boyfriend! And Hayate is one sexy swordsman! Though his skill with his sword _is_ admirable. _Cat thought as she smirked, remembering that sword dance Jaguar and Hyena had just performed. Kenjutsu was never really her calling, but she greatly admired the beauty of Kenjutsu and the fact that Jaguar was pretty proficient at it just put her respect for him up a notch. Cat couldn't help but to wonder if she wasn't already dating Hayate she would have went for this new recruit. Something about the sword attracted her like pretty sparkly jewels would attract a child.

"No rematch. I think we have got enough of Jaguar's abilities. A mid-ranged to close-ranged fighter with a wind affinity. Close enough? Now, both of you, go to the hospital while Eagle, Dove, and I check Jaguar's performance."

Naruto elegantly raised an eyebrow, causing Cat to turn away swiftly. Okaaay. Well anyway, wasn't Ookami supposed to spar him? On another note, he wasn't even here for the meeting. Strange…

Then Naruto found his thought being contradicted. There was his taichou walking toward them, bloodied up. Ookami looked… terrifying. His armor was cracked and broken in several places. His unruly hair, once spiky and brilliant silver, was matted with blood and drooped into his face, which was seen as the Wolf mask was adjusted to the side of his head, cracks running up and down the painted porcelain. His entire frame was splattered with blood and gore, still dripping onto the floor, staining the ground dark red. He was holding few papers, which Naruto guessed to be related to whatever mission he had just come back from.

But what really got Naruto was the eyes. They were the darkest blue he has ever seen, and seemingly emotionless. They looked more like eyes of a dead man. Ookami's gaze flickered to his own briefly before looking at the pair of them up and down.

Cat followed Naruto's gaze and gasped at the sight of her taichou. The rest of the squad proceeded to do the same.

"Let me get the paper, Taichou. You just go to the hospital and take care of your injuries. I'll take care of the mission procedure," Squirrel told him as he got the papers out of Ookami's hand.

"Taichou! Are you alright?" Cat asked worriedly, rushing up to Ookami.

Ookami shrugged it off, saying, "I'm fine." He then asked bluntly, "So the 'rookie' beat you, Hyena?"

Hyena got up and stretched his legs and arms with a slight wince, his yellow eyes twitching horribly. "Meh. You going to the hospital? Why don'cha join us?"

Ookami tilted his head a little in confirmation. "I'm guessing there's no need for me to spar him myself. If he can beat you, then he's in."

Hyena scowled a bit more before making his way to the exit.

Naruto was happy that he made into the squad, but couldn't help but to feel a bit disappointed. He was looking forward to a spar with the Taichou himself. Clash of unknown quantity against unknown quantity. Huh, oh well.

Naruto and Hyena walked down the hallways in silence, Ookami leading them couple feet ahead. Heads turned more frequently as they walked past, since they weren't wearing their masks. More stares were centered on Naruto though, making him slightly uneasy. He had assumed that it must be Ookami's fearsome looking state and didn't understand the stares given to him.

"It's because you're hot."

Naruto stared at Hyena, a blank look on his face.

"It's because you're hot." he repeated, a smirk growing on his face.

"Uh, right," Naruto said slowly, not liking that smirk.

The rest of the walk was filled with an awkward silence, on Naruto's part anyway. Hyena appeared to be relaxed despite his injuries which were bleeding profusely and had his hands placed casually into his pockets, managing to slouch even while walking.

"Interesting weapon you got there. Kick ass blades." Hyena said suddenly.

Naruto cursed in his mind. He thought people would chalk it up as just fast shurikens or something along that line. Even though Karasu nii-san gave the okay to use it in battle, he still wanted to keep it a secret a bit longer. Naruto briefly wondered if he got this paranoia from his nii-san. It was possible.

"It's not a big deal…" Naruto replied calmly.

"Hell, yes it is, rookie!" Hyena laughed. "What was that you threw at me? It felt like a kind of metal. Or can you just make things invisible or something? No that can't be it. I saw the flash of light reflecting off the blade so it's tangible. It must have been incredibly thin. It's tiny, alright, but nothing like the ones they sell anywhere. You created that?"

Despite his really obnoxious and rather creepy personality, which reminded him of a certain classmate in his academy by name of Kiba…, Naruto had to give him some credit. The guy could be really observant when he wanted to.

Naruto rolled his eyes but remained silent.

Hyena looked back at him for a long moment, before snorting.

"We ain't going to tell anybody. You earned our respect, rookie. Your background is kinda suspicious, but I don't think you're any danger. From the second the others met you, I could tell that they thought so too. Your weapon can remain a secret. Lot of ninjas likes to keep their customized weapons secret after all."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Uh, thanks." he mumbled awkwardly.

Hyena gave him that now familiar and creepy smirk.

Naruto hasn't memorized his way through the dizzying amount of hallways yet, and so was forced to follow Hyena and Ookami.

Running across the rooftops was both silent but quick. Ookami easily matched Naruto's and Hyena's speed, but had a slight limp that Hyena was quick to spot. Hyena growled and tried to slow down the pace but Ookami shook his head.

There was one incident that Naruto found a bit odd as they ran across the roofs. Almost three quarters to the hospital, Ookami had stopped suddenly, making Naruto nearly bump into him. Ookami glanced at Naruto for a split second before averting his eyes and looking down at the street below them.

Hyena paused, having noticed a bit too late and passed the two, looking back at them, raising an eyebrow. Ookami merely waved him off, motioning with his hand to move on, but Hyena snorted and sat down on the tiled roof stubbornly. Naruto figured that he might see couple things if he stuck around and so he did. Ookami rolled his eyes before henge-ing into a civilian and disappearing in a blur.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked curiously, crouching down.

"Taichou is going to buy something." Hyena replied bluntly, picking off something in his teeth.

"And we're waiting for him?"

"Obviously, rookie. Must be something important, though, for him to get it now."

Naruto didn't reply. Instead, he shielded his eyes as indiscreetly as he could and his bright blue eyes turned that familiar dark red, the black three-pointed star whirring gently as he mentally scanned the crowd. Naruto was curious after all. He barely knew anything about his taichou but just going off on his own at most random time didn't quite fit the ANBU that everyone respected and was loyal to.

His dark eyes shifted through the numerous auras covering the busy street before coming up against an aura that he suspected belonged to taichou. It stood out as it had two unique contrasting colors; silvery blue in the middle, and a black and red on the outside, nothing like the auras surrounding him. His aura was sharp and watchful, coiled in the stance of a predator, and was dangerous, so Naruto had a feeling that the aura could belong to none other than his very taichou.

The aura was floating slowly through the crowd, before going into-

"He went into a flower shop." Naruto said numbly.

"What?" Hyena whispered loudly, suddenly appearing next to Naruto and activating what looked to be clan jutsu or something which made his eyes be ringed with dark brown mark, his eyes turning animalistic. Naruto figured that it was an Inuzuka thing that enhanced the sight. "Wonder why?" he asked, giving Naruto a sideway smirk which Naruto found equally disturbing due to the mischievousness about it.

"Girlfriend?"

"Nah, probably buying somethin' for another patient."

"How about a friend?"

"Maybe a dog."

"A…. dog?"

"Taichou likes dogs."

Naruto blinked. The silvery black aura suddenly disappeared. "Hey…. I think I lost him…"

Hyena narrowed his eyes. "Huh, me too…"

Suddenly, both of them widened their eyes in realization and wiped their heads to the left simultaneously. There was a rapidly disappearing white blur off in the distance, speeding off towards the hospital.

"What the hell?" Hyena shouted indignantly, causing many heads to look up his way.

Naruto just laughed.

**~ xXx ~**

After paying his visit to the hospital where he went through some perfunctory checks, he moved into the only unoccupied room in the Team White barrack. The room was small and simple with Spartan furniture. A bookshelf against one wall, small closet against the other, and a bed in a corner. It was immaculately clean and Naruto wondered how it looked like when Team White's Dai ni Taichou occupied the room. He wondered how Dai ni Taichou was like.

The current Dai ni Taichou was Cat, but it was just temporary, as they needed to be able to pair up and Ookami was lacking a partner. One of the first things after he became part of Squad White was to be assigned a partner and be informed of who is partnered with who. Dove was with Hyena, Squirrel was with Eagle, and Cat was, as said earlier, with Ookami, leaving Hawk to be with Naruto. It was weird at times as Hawk was always so silent and he seemed to be brooding all the time. However, he wasn't that bad of a person to be around, though. He was always dedicated and Naruto decided that he was someone that he wanted to be close with, if not exactly in terms of friends.

Naruto spent most of his time training and exploring the ANBU headquarters. There were more people in ANBU than he thought, with about seven squads, the entire ANBU squad members totaling at around 56 people. He had no idea why they were named after colors. The person naming them probably had no sense of creativity. _(A/N: Wonder who that person is…XD)_

Surprisingly, there was a small library here, composing of scrolls mostly for new ANBU, and, commence sweat drop, books like 'How to Assassinate One with a Pencil.' Naruto went there a lot, usually to read up on his stealth. If there was one thing Naruto lacked, it was stealth and genjutsu. He had completely forgotten what exactly the ANBU specified on, and as such, strived to improve on it.

Thank kami _(A/N: Kami means god, goddess, or deity in Japanese)_ for the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. There was about twenty shadow clones near his apartment, practicing as he read.

Suddenly, his ANBU tattoo began burning briefly. There was a Squad meeting.

Squad meetings were quite frequent now. Since there was a new member, himself, the squad had to cram years of info in his head in case they would have a group mission, which required teamwork, codes, ANBU hand signs, battle formations, etc. Not only that, but the Squad had to argue about which placement he would fit into. During infiltration missions and such, the group usually had to split into two groups to cover more ground. Taichou wasn't there most of the times, in fact he had showed up only once and left after talking to Eagle and Hawk for few minutes. Cat had explained to him that Taichou didn't show up very often for the Squad meeting as he was occupied with numerous missions. Apparently he didn't appear very much unless there was a mission.

Naruto cracked his neck abruptly before getting up, pushing back his chair, and leaving the library, snapping back on his Jaguar mask along the way. He walked down through the twists and winding hallways, and was about to turn right when a voice interrupted him.

/Left, human. Sheesh./

Naruto scowled before turning the other way. He hasn't completely memorized every hallway yet, and he had a sneaking suspicious the hallways went all across Konoha.

Naruto knocked three times in rapid succession, before entering. Everybody was already there, lounging around on random furniture. Cat immediately walked up in front of him, and pressed a finger onto his mask. She has done this so many times, so the movement seemed automatic. The mask glowed the leaf symbol before fading away.

Everybody waved lazily in acknowledgement before falling silent again.

Naruto began musing to himself. The second time Naruto has been in here, he was oddly touched to find that a large red egg chair was left for him, the very chair that he was sitting in at the moment, and he had collapsed into it with a sigh, and, mirroring Cat, Hyena, and Dove, propped his feet onto the wooden table. He thought about how this squad felt like… home.

Since it was slightly stuffy in the room, Naruto slightly adjusted the mask to the side of his head, but immediately regretted it when he felt yellow eyes staring at the back of his head. Oh well, too late.

Judging by the fact that everybody was quiet and still waiting for Taichou, and since he didn't usually come in for the meetings, Naruto came up with only one conclusion:

_Mission time._

They lounged about in the room for a few more minutes, before Ookami finally came in, running a hand through his spiky hair with a small sigh. Instead of Cat pressing a finger to his mask, he did a few hand seals in quick succession, and they all relaxed.

He took out a scroll from out of nowhere, and unrolled it.

"Squad White, we were assigned with an S-rank mission for the entire group." Here, his eyes flickered to Jaguar. "There is a group of B-rank and A-rank missing nins confirmed to be conspiring against minor Daimyos. In other words, they are said to be planning assassination of the leaders of minor villages, most of which were known to be important trading villages for Konoha."

He flipped the scroll so that it was facing us, and Naruto had a brief glimpse of a small map of the continent, where a red marker had circled a small area near Cloud territory.

"We are to meet an informant in a small village near Cloud country. Cloud isn't particularly keen on having Konoha ninja in their territory, so we will have to go under cover as civilians."

Here, he whipped out another scroll detailing numerous faces and laid it on the wooden table, not bothering to actually look at it but instead staring at the squad members.

"We are to assassinate all conspiring members and any relatives of said ninjas. Konoha wants them and all traces of them to disappear completely. It is only because of the informant that we have this information before the other countries."

_So basically, we go dress up as civilians, meet the spy, find and kill our targets, cut off their heads and stuff it into scrolls, and come back just in time for lunch? _Naruto mused, wondering about his very first mission.

/Huhuhuhu, finally, BLOOD! Bone crushing, blood sp**urting, kids screaming, head slicing-/**

_Hey, fox…_

**/-rey FUN!/**

…_Are you done yet?_

/…Maybe./

_Good._

"Anyway, we leave in two hours, so get everything ready and meet at the Konoha Gates." Ookami finished slowly, oblivious to Jaguar's inner musing.

Everybody nodded simultaneously before huddling closer to the scroll on the table, trying to get a picture and some info on the missing nins. Naruto noticed that Hawk stood off in the side, leaning against a wall with dangerous mien about him, but he chalked it up again to ANBU paranoia. Naruto didn't really care for some extra info, as he had already took a brief glance and he had pretty good memory, and so, left the room the minute the meeting was over.

Much to Naruto's surprise, Ookami followed him out.

They walked in silence, Naruto walking casually and Ookami keeping up the pace easily, reading a book. To be honest, being with Wolf at the moment was making Naruto slightly nervous. He could have sworn that the guy was staring at him from behind that god damn orange book! But every time Naruto glanced back at him, his eyes were riveted down on the book. It was extremely unnerving.

Naruto scratched the back of his head with one hand subconsciously.

"So… Why exactly did you buy flowers before?" Naruto asked, partially out of curiosity, but mostly just for something to say.

Ookami didn't reply, his eyes engrossed on his book. It was weird though, for when Naruto looked closely, he noticed that the pupils weren't moving and were instead just staring vacantly at the page. Although Naruto has noticed him blatantly ignore people plenty of times, it was the first time Naruto had seen him have that vacant look in his eye. It kind of freaked him out.

"Hellooo?" Naruto said slowly, boldly waving a hand in front of his face. "Taichou..?"

Suddenly, Ookami looked up at Naruto's apprehensive face and blinked once.

"Did you say something?"

Naruto scowled. But then the most shocking thing happened next. Ookami _laughed_. It was such a light and carefree sound and felt so weird yet right hearing it coming from him.

Naruto wasn't the only one shocked, though.

He noticed that all around him the ANBUs that were passing by just froze up and were staring at them, a sudden silence blanketing them. Some of them seemed to be suspicious while others seemed to be simply stunned. Naruto concluded that his taichou must have not laughed very often.

Ookami didn't seem to notice. The laugh soon faded into a light chuckle. He ran a hand through his silver hair before looking back at Naruto.

"See you at the gate," he said lightly before disappearing in a whirl of leaves.

Kyuubi was oddly quiet as Naruto began packing for the mission. It didn't take that long, probably only around fifteen minutes. He packed some soldier pills, rations, a basic medical kit, and an extra mask. The ANBU mask always either cracked or broke completely every few days, much to his chagrin, something that he thanked Hyena for. He rewrapped the bandages around his arms and legs, and strapped on a relatively new katana and had some knives stored in his boots, and armguards. He took out the mini blades Karasu nii-san made him that had grey covering and looked at it for couple seconds before putting the pouch in the small holder hidden in his ANBU garment. Naruto readjusted the red scarf on his neck and donned on the ANBU black cloak before nodding to himself in the mirror. He was ready… and he still had one hour and thirty minutes left.

The rain was pouring harder than usual, but with nothing else to do, Naruto left his apartment to go walking for a bit. There was still some staring, since he was in ANBU, but compared to his real self, it was simply _weird_. He became so used to them that seeing looks of curiosity instead of disgust put him on edge more than usual. So, instead of walking through the streets, he decided to go to the training grounds instead.

He saw some familiar people, like Sasuke practicing throwing his shuriken, and even walked passed Kiba, who was taking Akamaru out for a walk. But what made Naruto pause was a small girl practicing by herself at the far end of the area.

With her purple hair, soaking wet from the rain, and her large purple jacket, she seemed really familiar to Naruto. Her pale blue pupil less eyes identified her as one of the Hyuga clan, most likely close to the main branch as not everyone of Hyuga clan had such eyes. Kind of curious, Naruto slowly approached her.

"Ano, hello?" Naruto asked lightly, tapping her shoulder.

The girl startled badly, and whirled around. On instinct, she threw a chakra laden palm aimed at his chest, but Naruto dodged it swiftly and grabbed her arm before flipping her over his shoulder. She landed on the ground with a muffled thump.

She blushed lightly with embarrassment at her predicament.

"I'm so sorry, ANBU-san." She said, scrambling up and bowing. "I-I didn't see you there."

"Even with the byakugan?" Naruto laughed softly. The girl flushed again.

"I was too… busy, I guess… G-gomen, gomen…"

Naruto didn't say anything. He stared hard at the girl who fidgeted under his gaze. Something about her wasn't right. And she seemed so familiar. Suddenly, it clicked. Hyuga Hinata, his academy classmate, and the heir to the Hyuga clan.

"Why are you pretending?" he said finally.

"S-sorry?"

"You may look embarrassed and you may stutter, but your heart rate is normal. Normal people, when scared, usually let their eyes wander. You, you keep your eyes on one spot on the ground. Why are you stuttering? Acting like a shy scaredy cat isn't becoming of one of the main branch."

The girl, Hinata, stared down at the ground in silence, her fingers still twirling around each other. Suddenly, they faltered and she looked up boldly to meet his eyes and Naruto was taken aback by the cool determination in her eyes. Her eyes flashed with certain defiance that somehow suited her.

"Hinata-sama!"

The intense mood was broken as another Hyuga Naruto remembered seeing before, came forward to her. He was probably only a year older than her, and had long brown hair tied in a low ponytail. His pale eyes glanced warily at him before focusing on Hinata. Naruto just then realized that this was Neji, his classmate for the first year of Academy.

"The Hyuga Head is looking for you, Hinata-sama." The boy said in a mock-polite voice. The instant their eyes connected, Naruto felt a burning anger inside the guy that he knew he didn't like. He didn't think Neji was like that before, quiet, yes, and very respectful, but not this bitterness that he was practically radiating.

"G-good bye, ANBU-san." Hinata said softly, bowing again. "Let's go, Neji-niisan." Neji bowed stiffly and both of them soon vanished into the trees.

/What the hell was that, human?/

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

_I can tell. She's wearing a mask. She stutters, and blushes but I know she's forcing herself to do it. It's weird, because it doesn't make sense why she's doing it in the first place. But the fact that she's even pretending makes me sick._

/Huhuhuhu, hypocrite, much?/

_Shut up, fox. Pretending to be something you're not, lying to everyone everyday nearly 24/7, it's tiring. It disgusts me to see other people doing it too._

/Self righteous hyprocrite./

Naruto rolled his eyes, before checking his watch. _(A/N: Do they even have watches? Haha.)_ Crap, he only had ten minutes to get to the Konoha Gates. He disappeared in a blur, heading towards the gate at full speed.

The rest of the squad, except for Ookami himself, was there already: Squirrel, Cat, Hyena, Dove, Hawk, and Eagle. Most of them were just standing around and were double checking their equipment. Cat waved lazily at him and did the normal procedure of poking his mask, before continuing gazing out the streets again.

Naruto chuckled nervously at the apparent silence which he wasn't sure if he found it awkward or comforting, and sat down by the nearby tree. Seeing as everybody seemed relaxed, ever tense Hawk being an exception to this, Naruto began double checking his equipment just for the sake of it. It wasn't as though he had anything else to do anyways. Dove was just absentmindedly staring out into the trees, and Squirrel was writing things in a random notebook. Cat was twirling around a kunai about her finger and Eagle was, eerily enough, watching her. Hyena had crouched down before whipping out a pack of cards and started playing solitaire. Hawk was leaning against a wall again, and looked into the distance, his eyes unseeing. And Ookami still hadn't arrived yet.

Eagle suddenly turned away from the still twirling kunai and stared at the sky.

"Taichou seems really tired, today." He voiced out loud.

Dove hummed in agreement while Naruto paused from rummaging in his bag.

_But what really got Naruto was the eyes. They were the darkest blue he has ever seen, and seemingly emotionless. They looked more like eyes of a dead man._

That was quite a while ago but the eyes haunted him at night, the way cat's bright slitted eyes will haunt the darkness. The midnight blue that glowed eerily against the shadowy backdrop.

Hyena glanced up at Naruto from the game and scoffed. "Don't think too much of it, rookie. Taichou was probably just back from another mission. Who wouldn't be tired?"

Squirrel looked up from his notebook. "Taichou has the most number of solo missions, ANBU or not," he added.

"Dammit, Squirrel! Will you stop butting into other people's conversations?" Hyena shouted indignantly, mock playfulness about his tone.

"I was just adding to your statement."

The current Squirrel was nothing like the man who had seemed so dangerous when Naruto first met him. Naruto did notice that he could be quite light hearted and funny at times, but this was the first time he actually saw Squirrel fooling around and acting in puerile manner, even if it was just in joking way. He seemed… too dangerous for that. Guess not.

The two faltered as Ookami came suddenly, jumping down in front of the squad from the rooftops. His white cloak that he wore over his normal ANBU uniform which indicated his Captainship fluttered in the light breeze as he softened his landing by slightly crouching. Naruto was once again reminded of how much his taichou seemed like a predator more than anything. He was someone that one wouldn't want to get in the wrong side of.

He gave a two finger salute to Squad White, who quickly arranged in front of him. "Yo, team. Squad White ready and accounted for? Good, now let's-"

"Taichou!"

Ookami blinked before looking at Squirrel who was pointing accusingly at his arm, his tone dead serious. Everybody looked at it simultaneously, and frowned at seeing a small white bandage on his wrist stained crimson red with seeping blood.

Ookami sighed. "For the last time, I am not cutting."

"B-but…" Squirrel narrowed his eyes, disbelief apparent on his face mixed with slight worry.

"Really. Now, can we go?"

Everybody nodded quickly, before disappearing in a blur. The only evidence of them being there was the abandoned pack of cards on the ground.

**TBC**

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**Hope you like this chapter. It's a bit short, not even reaching 10,000 words compared to my usual 11,000 – 12,000, but I hope my talking about the story and giving insights was enough to make up for that. Here's some info for anyone who's a bit confused.**

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**Squad White consists of eight members:**

**Ookami _(I'll be sorely disappointed if you guys can't figure out who this is) _– the sarcastic genius who everyone deeply respects and is loyal to**

**Jaguar _(Naruto) _- our favorite protagonist**

**Cat _(I think you guys already know who this is) _– A tomboy**

**Squirrel _(You know him… you just can't connect the two.) _– Extremely loyal to Ookami, and alternates between light moments and seriousness.**

**Hyena _(An Inuzuka, but names? No-no.) _- perceptive, and cocky**

**Dove _(to be announced) _- Polite and aloof, always soft-spoken and quiet**

**Eagle _(to be announced) _– Dark history, but reserved and stoic.**

**Hawk _(to be announced)_ – Detached, serious and always tense, ready for a battle. Not much for joking around.**

**The member Naruto replaced… also known as Dai ni Taichou… To Be Announced :P**

**I'm pretty proud of these characters, lol. And yes, Hyena is gay. Never wrote about a gay person before, it's a nice change. But his personality and sexuality is purely for laughs. That's it.**

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**Sorry that I changed the Kakashi vs. Naruto fight to a Naruto vs. Hyena fight. They will fight, though, but in the future where Naruto actually has a chance :P Oh man, that was a spoiler, wasn't it? Now I'll have to stay up all night trying to figure out how to set up the circumstance so that Naruto will have to fight Kakashi (neh, I already have everything figured out. I have the entire plot and every single even all written down in my notebook. Including the two sequels, I might add. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. After this story, there is two ways the sequels can go and the two are completely different. One is used more often than the other. The other one, despite having read numerous fanfictions, I've never read anything remotely close to the idea. I'm thinking about writing both of them at the same time so people can decide which one they like better.)**

**Kakashi is not cutting.**

**Anyway, the reason I did the Hinata thing was to set up for my story. A lot of the things I'm doing right now is just setting up for the main plot. The main plot, I'm afraid, won't be here for quite a while though. It's like from chapter 10 or something. There's quite a bit that I really need to set up and because I want to show how it came along, I need these lengthy chapters of securing the personality and background. (*Slight Spoiler) The main story starts from when Itachi leaves after committing Uchiha massacre. Yes, I'll have Uchiha massacre. I'm trying to keep close to the actual story, at least in the beginning, while exercising the author's privilege to twist things around a bit. But again, as I said in last chapter, I'm trying to develop characteristics of each individual person and define what makes them unique. I'm going to show the good and bad side of everyone and show that no one's entirely good or bad.**

**If anyone has a guess on who Eagle is or/and his history, feel free to describe it to me. I'll tell you how close you are, or how far off you are, to/from the mark. In fact, you can do that for anything that I left unanswered. All that unanswered questions will be answered by the end, I promise you, but I will be delighted to know what you guys are speculating on.**

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**Challenge Questions:**

**1. Who is the Dai ni Taichou and why was he pulled out of Squad White by the Elders? Surely they didn't pull him out just to give him more missions. They give Ookami loads of missions yet Ookami is still staying as the Captain of Squad White.**

**2. Who, or what, exactly is Kano? What's the history behind him? (As of now, Tristan76 has the best guess XD) Where is he going and when will he come back?**

**3. What is Kuroibaragan? How did Naruto come to have it? From which side of his parentage, if it came from his parents at all? Or is it even from his blood relations?**

**4. In the prologue, we see a man leaving Konoha. From the fact that later Sasuke finds a journal belonging to Naruto, we can infer that the man is Naruto. But why is he leaving? Doesn't he want to become Hokage? Is he leaving because he's loyal to Konoha or is it because he is no longer attached to Konoha? What's the circumstances?**

**5. What do you think will be the main plot of this story? (Ex. Finding the pot of gold hidden by local leprechauns :P) *yes, this story won't be one of those endless stories that goes on and on. Once the plot is over, the story will also be over and its sequel will begin.**

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**These are some questions that I had to think quite a bit on to build my story, and I would love to hear from you guys on what you guys think. Anyone who gets any one of the questions will get a big hug from me :D and public congratulation on my next chapter.**

**For those of you who are wondering why the chapter is titled "Cat vs. Dog," Jaguar is, if I recall correctly, a feline animal and Hyena is a canine, thus Cat vs. Dog.**

**I thank you all for reviewing. They mean a lot to me :)**

**- Jade Wylkyns**


	8. Chapter 7: Feelings in the Snow

**Just like what the title says, it's _feelings_ in the snow. In this chapter, I'm especially developing Naruto's character and his relationship with Karasu. He remembers some things, contemplates, questions, and do bunch of other things that you guys can just find out for yourself as you read.**

**Hey, did anyone go to ARML (American Regional Mathematics League) on June 3rd and 4th hosted in Las Vegas? How'd you do? I kinda failed mine. And then I got lost with my friend in UNLV campus and we spent three hours trying to get back to our dorms. Fun… Also, is anyone going to HCSSiM (Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics) this summer? I'm going and I think it'll be nice to know someone there, ya know? Me being only an incoming freshy and all. I just hope I won't get lost or something in the air terminals. I'll be riding the plane all by myself and while I'm excited it would really suck if I got lost and missed the flight out in Midwest.**

**Last Friday was our middle school promotion dance. My friends and I went all out on taking pictures and we ended up making our guy friends look like womanizers. We had this friend of mine smack in the center with like a dozen girls surrounding him. It was funny. Then I took pictures with this really tall guy and then I felt really short because… well, I _am_ short. But then I felt better because couple of my friends there were shorter. :P (Love you Olo Eopia!) And then my friends and I rocked the stage XD Neh, I can't dance but I did anyways.**

**Guess what, Olo? I practiced my frickin' violin for seven hours on Saturday! I'm gonna go raving mad if I don't get into that orchestra… No, my mom would kill me first. If I die on June 21st, just know that it's all because of mom (ya know, that's when the rejection emails get sent out). I hope you did well too! (Actually, you could just tell me tomorrow. I mean, I'm gonna see you at school!)**

**And now here's the reviews and my answers to them.**

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**RedRangerBelt**, thank you for your clarification. I've been getting my facts all mixed up. But I think I'll keep the title that way because, as you might have noticed, Cat vs. Hyena doesn't sound half as awesome as Cat vs. Dog, ya know? Thanks anyways, though. And no, Gai is NOT Squirrel. That would be a scary thought, won't it? I think it is. And well, it is pretty easy to figure out who Cat is. Yes, it is Yugao. Hmmm… who's Hyena? Well, none of your readers will know quite so early on in the story as he is my creation. He's a pretty cool guy, by the way, in my opinion despite his oddity and askew sexuality. Hyena does NOT have the same ability as Naruto. In fact, he's just regular ole' guy who trained super hard and got himself on ANBU. Kakashi was buying flowers for a person, I'll tell you that much. Wait, you already figured out he's Kakashi! Ahh-! (Just kidding. I'm glad I was obvious enough.) Where did who disappear to? Kano? Well, that's a secret! And no, no one knows who Naruto really is, at least not yet, with a possible exception of one person.

**Ichigo1508**, I wonder how Naruto is going to feel after the assassination mission too… XD

**SilverXshadow**, no, Eagle is not a Hyuuga. In fact, there isn't whole lot of dojutsus on Squad White. See, we already have Ookami (aka. Kakashi) who has his Sharingan eye and Naruto with his Kuroibaragan, and the last thing we need is Byakugan to make Squad White some sort of super squad. (Rinnegan doesn't count… We can think about that later) As I had said before, or I think I said it before, Naruto's ability isn't… exactly a bloodline limit. Kinda, but not quite. And I think one or two bloodlines in the squad is enough. I'm glad you're enjoying the chapter and I hope you'll enjoy this one as well.

**Nxkris**, I'm glad you find my story interesting. I was in fact against having Naruto join ANBU at such young age because I didn't want to make Naruto a Super Naruto, but then I had to in order to fit the later timeline. However, I think it turned out not too bad so far. Naruto is a bit more mature than I had hoped, but it can't be helped, not if I want the pivotal points in this story to turn out the way it is supposed to be. I'm a huge fan of having backgrounds behind each character, even the most minor ones, but I was worried that I was overloading the story even as I put them on. I'm glad you didn't find it too suffocating. Naruto will eventually have to reveal his secret, obviously, and it may be in near future. XD. Did my story have couple things in common with Fate/Stay Night? I've heard that it's pretty good but I've never read it myself. Hmm… maybe great minds think alike :P Oh yes, Naruto will have to go over some hurdles to hone Kuroibaragan into its ultimate state. In fact, I have this 10 page long history behind the Kuroibaragan and its uses. All will be revealed in due time.

**Hanzo of the Salamander**, I'm looking forward to the future events of Naruto too!

**ChronoMitsurugi**, I'm so terribly sorry I accidently mistook your gender! Now you're making me feel horribly guilty… Will you ever forgive me? (*large brown puppy eyes*) Yeah, I wanted Naruto to wipe the floor with Hyena too but then I had to consider the both sides' experience and age and stuff. Hey, great minds think alike! (this is starting to become my catch phrase…) As for Kakashi's eye color, when I looked it up, it said black but then I figured that dark blue could be taken as black as well. You're right about his Sharingan eye, and I'll sometime in the near future try to fix that up. Also sorry about getting Hinata's hair color all mixed up. I was really rushed when I was writing the chapter because I had to prepare for bunch of competitions and stuff, and my mom was driving me crazy. The Rookie Nine minus Naruto are all eight turning nine. I'm making Naruto seven turning eight, Itachi twelve turning thirteen, and Kakashi is like twenty or twenty one. Kakashi's been in ANBU since he was 13, meaning he's been in ANBU for nearly 9 years now, and Itachi's been in ANBU since he was like eight or nine (I'm going with eight) if you do the math with my first chapter, so he's been in service for five years now. Nice guess about Kano, by the way. You're coming close… but not quite. You got the Naruto's power being spirit/essence/entity part right but Kano part kinda wrong. But Kano _will_ help Naruto realize his power though. He _is_ a cool kid after all (if he could be called a kid, that is. You'll see why I'm saying this later on)

**Meridiay**, Kano is _not_ a clone of Naruto XD. It would be scary to have two Naruto's running around, ya know? And he's not a time traveler. It would be pretty cool if he was, though. Nice guess :D

**Anyways, on with the story.**

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_"Listen to my story… This may be my last chance."_

-Tidus (Final Fantasy X)

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**VII Feelings in the Snow**

_Everybody knows that I always wanted to be Hokage. In fact, I screamed it to the world. Literally. It's another one of the things that I share with my dobe mask. Because I _do_ want to be Hokage. I want to be acknowledged, I want people to know me as me, and not what I am. But most of all, I want to protect them. I want to protect the façade they show to the world, and turn it into reality._

_To turn the hell into a heaven. Hey, I can hope, can't I?_

_But I have a secret. I have another dream. One that I haven't told anyone, not even Kano. It's such a childish dream, really. I want to fly. I want to soar above the clouds, and look down at the world and laugh. The absolute rush of freedom as I crap on Neji's head. Ha, now that's fate. Wait, did I actually write that? Hmm, I must be tired._

_The birds fly above me in the sky. And I can't help but think of angels. Holy people blessed with the white wings of a bird. Oji-san would always tell me about them. Angels were the souls of the dead. They lived high above the clouds and watched over us. He said that there was a kind of angel called a guardian angel, that would look over you, and protect you. They'll whisper in your ear to persuade onto the right path. He called them the good side of your 'consciousness.'_

_And as sappy as it sounds, I want to be an angel too. The guardian angel of Konoha._

_But of course, I don't want to die._

-Naruto

**~xXx~**

It was endless. Endless plains of barren land stretched in all direction, with thinning forest before him, making Naruto suddenly feel so insignificant, like a dust mite getting on a large abandoned bookshelf, like a grain of sand aimlessly rolling around, enjoying itself but lonely.

Naruto wondered how Squad White would look like to others, if there was any to observe them at all. He imagined them conjuring up the howl of wolf as the magnificent predator looked longingly at the full moon, like a typical cliché horror movie. He pictured them noticing the small shadowy figures down below the clouds, jumping rapidly across the ground. He could even see large stands of trees that were turning gradually into even terrain, the great bamboo forests that didn't, and never have, exist in this part of the world, forcing the figures to run on the ground instead of jumping from branches to branches, silent as ghosts.

Naruto then noticed that he was near the back of his squad, and saw from the sideline, a slim figure trailing after the rest of the dark shadows, gradually falling to the back of the group as he pondered and mulled, as he wondered and imagined. Would they notice how his sun-kissed, spiky blond hair flew around his mask and vision, visible only as a small yellow blur in the darkness? Or would the darkness cover up his vibrant hair? Naruto knew that it was silly of him to think about these things but he didn't have any thing else to think about.

It was at times like these that Naruto cursed Konoha's wide territories, or technically Fire Country's wide territories. Despite their fast pace, it had taken days to get to Lightning Country, and even now, they were still a few miles short of the target. Everybody seemed to feel the same way, though they didn't show it. But Naruto knew. He could sense it, like how he would sense a fire nearby from its heat, and he could sense an orange fire radiating a dull orange heat from his teammates.

But Saishou Taichou was different. He was still a silver fire, though with a bit of blue mixed in, and it felt cold to him. Naruto wondered what was making Saishou so tense, but he didn't dare ask those questions, for same reason that he didn't dare ask Saishou-san and Karasu nii-san before. It was for same reasons that he didn't ask Hawk about his tenseness and Eagle about his wariness. Everyone had secrets… and not all of them were pretty. It was just that some just had the lucky draw. That girl Hinata… she had secrets too. It might not have been as serious as some others' but it was big for her. Naruto wondered what it was. Then Naruto wondered why he was thinking about all this. Why should he care about other people's secrets? It was their business and besides, he had his own secrets that he wished for on one to know after all. Why can't they keep their secrets? So Naruto forcibly stopped his thoughts from delving deeper into that line of thought and started thinking about his mission.

The mission. It was his first mission as an ANBU, and Naruto was pleased to find that he wasn't feeling very nervous. Excited, maybe, and even slightly apprehensive, but not nervous. But then, why would he be apprehensive? Why afraid? Naruto then remembered Karasu nii-san telling him.

_"I think about missions that I'll one day go to and suddenly I find myself feeling a bit afraid. I'm afraid of what might go wrong in the mission. What if there is someone that I'm afraid of in the mission. I'm not saying that there is anyone that I'm afraid of, but I know that you meet and fight many people as a ninja. And I know that ninjas shouldn't be afraid of anything. But what if I ever become afraid?" Naruto asked, his tone quiet but serious._

_"Being afraid is okay. What's not okay is letting your fear get in the way of your mission. That is what's not acceptable. Everyone's afraid of something. Everyone feels fear when they go on mission, when they fight. It is that they ignore those fears that they become great." Karasu nii-san told him._

_"Have you ever felt afraid? Did you feel afraid when you went on your first mission?"_

_After a slight moment of silence, Karasu answered. "Yes. I was afraid." His voice was so quiet and somber that Naruto wondered if he said the wrong thing, but Karasu went on. "When I was four, I for the first time watched a man die. It was during the Third Shinobi War. At that age, I was already training to become a shinobi. The war ended when I was five, but I was already a full fledged shinobi. I was a genin, but I was nothing like the genin nowadays. My father," here he paused for a moment. "My father was a tough man. He believed that only the toughest environment could create the best. He took me to the execution of prisoners of war. He assigned me an A-rank mission, commissioned by him. I was to fight some of those prisoners of war and defeat them… and kill them."_

_Naruto knew that what Karasu was telling him was something he never told anyone about. Naruto knew that Karasu nii-san was trusting him with one of his deepest feelings, feelings and memories that he had buried so deep down that he never thought of it until now. And he promised himself that he wouldn't let his nii-san down, no matter what._

_"He took me there, behind the steel bars of the ANBU Interrogation & Torture Center, most commonly known among ANBUs as I & T Center or just I.T., where the prisoners awaited me. I.T. is not a pretty place. It was initially designed to put fear in you so that it will be easier to extract the information. I was five, and I had yet to learn how to quell my fear. When I cringed, my father slapped me. Hard. That was my first fear training. He then told me that the prisoners are told that if they manage to kill me, then they will be acquitted of all charges, and will be free men." Here, he took another breather before continuing. It was no longer about fear but instead about something more – his trampled humanity that was forced out of him – that he went through, and Naruto respected Karasu for that._

_"A man would do anything for his freedom, for freedom is what makes a person. Without freedom, you really don't exist, because then your life isn't yours anymore. A person that I respect very much once told me, 'When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again.' I believe that. And a man is at his fiercest when he is driven into a corner, having nothing to lose and many to gain. Back then I didn't know that, but what I did know was that the men were desperate. They wouldn't go easy on me just because I was a 5-year-old. So I fought, because I would rather live as a coward, beating men who were already beaten because I was afraid of dying, than to be moral and dead. Sometimes, I wish I didn't do it, but I know that if I had to relive through all that, then I know I will do the same thing again." Karasu's voice was so faint and faraway that Naruto could barely hear the last sentence. It was so sad, and out of place in Karasu's youth, that Naruto couldn't help but to wonder just how difficult it would have been to have such demanding father._

_The two fell silent, both deep in their own thoughts, before Naruto broke the silence. "I don't think it was cowardly of you to do it. The men had chance, and they gave all they got, and they were beaten by you. I think it was a fair game, in fact more were weighed toward the prisoners, and you came out victorious. There's nothing cowardly about being victorious. You made the best out of what you were presented with, and you survived." Naruto spoke, before abruptly stopping, thinking that he had said too much._

_Karasu remained silent for a moment longer before replying, "I'm glad you think that. I'm glad there is someone that understood beyond just the fact that I beat much older men. That was all they saw, you know? They only saw a five-year-old who could beat war veterans, not a little boy who didn't like his father being so pushy. They never understood that I didn't like killing, and that I was only doing it because of my father." Karasu sounded so sad that Naruto stole a glimpse at him, wondering what he was thinking about, only to be met with inscrutable white porcelain mask of a crow._

_"It wasn't very long before they decided I didn't need to stay a genin longer. They made me a jounin. I never took the Chunin Exam… nor Jounin Exam." Suddenly his voice turned bitter, outlined with hardness. "My father was ecstatic. Oh yes. He was so proud that his eldest son became the youngest jounin in the history of Shinobi. But he never saw me as his son. No, I was nothing but something to parade around, like a family title or an expensive heirloom to be showcased. He didn't care that I was still a mere five-year-old and I was already going on A-rank missions. He never cared that the only people that I could call acquaintances were at least a decade older than me. He never cared that I had no friends."_

_"Not a single one? You must have had at least some." Naruto frowned. This was an unexpected turn in the conversation, but Naruto didn't care. What he did care about was that Karasu seemed a bit upset at the memory and that he was being entrusted with a grave secret._

_"Then I met a boy when I was six. He was in fact my cousin, a cousin that I never saw due to my father making me train every day. We met purely by accident. I was training with my kunai and I was unaware of my surroundings. I had just completed a jutsu when I noticed him in the way, and I had to knock him down to have him avoid it. He was couple years older than me at age nine and he was also a jounin. He was a really smart guy – I would even go as far as to call him a genius, a real natural – but he was always overshadowed by my achievements, which my father made sure to boast to the world. He offered to train with me. He taught me many things." Suddenly Karasu came to an abrupt stop. His aura twisted around like a calm pond disturbed by pounding rain or skipping stones._

_"Do you still train with him?" Naruto asked._

_"No." The answer was curt, and… pained? Naruto wasn't sure._

_"Did something happen to him?"_

_"No… I've just been busy lately. ANBU missions and stuff. That's all." Karasu answered in similar curt manner as before, but Naruto could sense that there was more to it than just being busy being an ANBU. But Naruto could also see that Karasu nii-san was very distracted by whatever that was on his mind. The red eyes sprinkled with two tomoes, the only part of Karasu's face that Naruto could see, were unfocused and his mind felt as though he was recalling a painful, or at least uncomfortable, memory. Naruto decided to leave the issue alone. Karasu would tell him when he was ready._

His foot got caught on a branch and he barely managed to clear his head back into reality before he crashed into the ground. Hyena gave him a strange look but didn't ask any questions. Naruto decided that Hyena did have some tact after all. But then, it could have been just Ookami who appeared to be more edge than usual. Just seeing him jumping from branches to branches a few feet ahead of the squad, idly fingering a kunai in one hand, was enough to make them all feel subdued.

Naruto's shaky breath came out as a crystallized mist in front of him, making him regret taking off the red scarf few hours back, and he only then realized that the temperature was steadily dropping as the sun was setting in distance, bleeding the sky red. The mist didn't stay around long enough for Naruto to play around for the sake of something to do, as it whipped off with the light wind as fast as it appeared.

**_And the sky will bleed red as everything leaves him, without even wind as his company…_**

Naruto wasn't sure if it was just a random thought that popped into his head… or if it really was a voice whispering in his ears. He could have sworn that a sweet melodious voice was whispering his name, whispering things to him, but there was no one miles around save for his teammates. And none of his teammates seemed to notice it, or if they did they didn't show any signs.

**_He closed his eyes, wanting to forget, forget everything that he knew, that he was. He wanted to be the wind, coursing freely, wandering around until he even forgot who he was and knew only of the draft that tugged at him. But he couldn't. No matter what, he knew that it would always be there, right behind him, waiting for him to slip. And he couldn't slip. He couldn't let _****him_ down. He promised him that he would do it, and he would stick with his promise… no matter what._**

**_But there it was, the hulking shape that haunted him, day and night, summer and winter, in or out, always waiting for him. It wanted him, no, it wanted the…_**

"Hey Jaguar, we're stopping here now. You planning on going all the way to Cloud?" A voice shook Naruto out of his trance-like state, and Naruto found himself face to face with Hyena who was grinning widely at him, his eyes in laughing position through his mask's eyehole. "Taichou just called halt. You might want to listen to him, even if there _is _a hot girl waiting for you at Cloud."

His face burning hot with embarrassment, Naruto was about to give him a retort when Ookami spoke.

"After a few miles, we will officially be in Cloud. We'll drop here for the night before changing into our civilian henges and head to the main road."

The Squad didn't need to be told twice. Dove and Eagle had already vanished into the mist to explore the perimeter of their camp and set up traps, with Hawk talking to Taichou about something that seemed quite serious… but then Hawk seemed to be always serious. Squirrel and Cat were busy clearing the area while Hyena pulled out another pack of cards.

Not really knowing what to do, Naruto scanned their 'camp.' The area was slightly more elevated than usual but not by much, and the ground appeared to be the same level all around. There was this heavy feeling of detachment out here that Naruto couldn't shake off. He wondered if it was just that strange voice or if there really was something wrong with the site. Now that he was thinking about that odd incident, Naruto couldn't help but to wonder if there was something wrong with him, like split personality or something. He was quite sure that people normally didn't have random voice whispering in their ears…

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Naruto gave a new critical eye at the camp. The mission was important. His personal problems came later. Naruto noticed that while they did have the cover of darkness, and the overcast cloudy night, the ground was just too level for people to not notice a sort of light or fire in the distance so he could scratch that idea…. No wait–.

Naruto pressed a hand against the closest bamboo tree and closed his eyes as his clear cerulean blue eyes turned dark like a night sky. It had become an automatic reaction, his closing of his eyes, so that others wouldn't notice his bloodline. He knew that it must seem weird that he is actually closing his eyes all of the sudden but it was better than them realizing that he had a bloodline. It did help that his bloodline could be used even with closed eyes. The seeing of feelings, and colors, didn't really have much to do with actual vision after all. It was like… noticing that fire was hot. Absolutely useless during battle, though. On another note, maybe he could get tinted goggles to hide the change, or most of it, at the least. He stored the idea in his mind to think about pros and cons later.

Naruto sent a pulse of chakra through the tree and it ran down the tree before vanishing off in the distance like a ripple on the water. It was the very first technique that he developed using his eyes. He termed it 'echolocation technique' for the lack of better words. He still remembered the time he accidently created, or discovered depending on how one saw it, the technique.

_Kano and Naruto were just hanging out around their training ground after their hard session with Karasu, the trainer himself gone, having made an excuse that he had to go somewhere. That day, Karasu was merciless, and even Kano had hard time keeping up with his fast punches and kicks that were performed with dead accuracy. Naruto had a suspicion that Karasu had a bad day or something, and he figured that Karasu must have been forced to do something that he didn't like, or at least something along that line happened. That was one of those times that he couldn't help but to look at Karasu not as soft-spoken brother but instead as a deadly ANBU._

_"Hey what do you think made nii-san so upset? He was borderline cruel today!" Naruto exclaimed. "Even you couldn't land a single hit on him. You were like his personal punching bag." Naruto said the last sentence with a smirk at the self-proclaimed taijutsu master._

_"Hey, it's not like you did any better! You barely blocked any of his kicks." Kano stuck out his tongue, to which Naruto responded by sticking out his tongue as well. Suddenly, Naruto became serious._

_"He really did seem out of it. I could see that he was distracted by something. There was something on his mind that was really bothering him… a lot." Naruto voiced his thoughts to Kano, to which the latter nodded somberly._

_"I wonder what happened. When he was training us, his punches were just automatic thing… he wasn't really thinking about it."_

_Naruto leaned against a nearby tree and stared up at the green leaves above before activated his kuroibaragan in a futile attempt to figure out where Karasu had disappeared to, even though he already knew that Karasu would be long gone by now, probably in the other side of the village, or even outside. Kano seemed to know what he is doing, or made his own conclusion, and didn't ask Naruto any questions._

_When a squirrel suddenly jumped out of nowhere and bounded across the clearing, Naruto was surprised and accidently pulsed out a small burst of chakra. What really amazed him was that he felt as though he was the very chakra he let go and he was traveling through the trunk, the way water would flow in a river. He felt himself, or his chakra rather, spread into billions of tiny strands, soaking the ground, and he could help but to open his mouth wide at the sheer enormity of the ground._

_In the form of chakra, Naruto could, in a way, sense the chakra flowing around him… and it was beautiful. Everything was imbued with chakra, even the tiniest grain of dirt, and it was all around him, the sweet hum of a mother, the chakra running wild in the way that water would soak the ground, the way rainbow would soak the sky. He saw things that he never saw before, and he could most acutely feel the very ions of the being vibrating with energy. Every animal was like a cloud of colors, like emotion diluted in the water called chakra, and the humans… oh they were beautiful. Colors of every color were there, making it beautiful, the chakra encasing it like a cocoon of a butterfly._

_And he knew then and there that he loved chakra._

The effect was immediate. Naruto could 'see' any humans in a few miles away, the color of their emotion encasing them like a cocoon, traversing through their body. There were animals too, but he couldn't 'see' them as clearly because they had less complex emotion in comparison to humans. Besides, humans had the most volatile and exaggerated emotions, thus giving them brighter color that stood out in contrast to the dullness of the world around them. Naruto briefly wondered if the intensity of the emotion was what drove people to strike and fight back, before turning his attention back to the matter on his hand.

Naruto found that there weren't any potential enemies out for at least a few miles, meaning making a fire was good to go.

Glad to have something to do, Naruto busied himself with the kindling, breaking off numerous bamboo stands and heaping them in a small pile. Satisfied with the pile, he applied a low level kaiton jutsu and there soon was a small fire burning cheerily in the camp.

Just as Naruto was basking in a small pleasure of having finished his job, despite being a minor one, Dove and Eagle came in and took a quick glance at the glowing fire before smartly saluting Ookami. Naruto noticed with a certain curiosity that Hawk was finished with whatever he was discussing with Taichou-san and was now standing off in the side by the tent, slightly slouching against the tent support. He couldn't help but to wonder if Hawk was just naturally aloof or if something had happened.

"The forest that we just came through seems to have been untouched since, and the same applies for two miles radius from here, from what we have checked. The alarm traps surrounding the site has been secured, Taichou." Dove reported in her usual soft voice, clear in the heavy silence that seemed to inhabit the area.

Ookami nodded and looked at Eagle for confirmation. Eagle smiled. And once again, Naruto wondered how everybody seemed to know he was doing it. Then he noticed that something was off. His smile was strained, like everything about him, and Naruto wondered what could possibly be making him so tense. Naruto's hand was slowly reaching towards his kunai pouch when Taichou suddenly spoke.

"Okay. Everybody settle in for the night. I'll take first wa-"

"Taichou! I'll take first watch!"

Ookami turned to Squirrel and blinked. "Well, okay, then. Squirrel will take first watch and I'll take se-"

"I'll be second, sir." Hyena quipped.

"Wel-"

"Third." Eagle said, raising a finger.

"Taichou, I'm fourth!" Cat volunteered enthusiastically.

Naruto couldn't understand. Couldn't they sense that heaviness in the air? Couldn't they tell that something went terribly wrong in this place? Could they not notice that the sky was windless and felt dragged down, with the heavy cloud like daggers poised to strike? Why were they so cheerful, so jovial?

Ookami paused, but there weren't any more volunteers. He sighed.

"Okay.. I'm tak-"

"Fifth… sir." Dove added, and seeing her taichou's half hearted glare directed at her, she let out a soft laugh.

"I'll take sixth, taichou." A tenor voice spoke, and the ANBUs turned to find Hawk walking slowly towards them.

Ookami turned his glare towards Jaguar, the only one who hasn't said a thing during the entire conversation. The others turned expectant faces, or masks in this case, on him as well.

Pushing aside his thoughts, Naruto slipped on a poker face, both in his voice and attitude, his face masked with his mask, and yawned with some extra drama. "Don't care who goes first, really."

Ookami rolled his eyes as well before heading towards the tent. "I'll be… seventh then. Switch around every hour."

"Yes, sir!" The ANBUs chorused before going back to whatever it was that they were doing before or just venturing out into the field.

Naruto stayed rooted to his sport for a second longer, looking curiously at his taichou. Ookami didn't seem to register the unnatural feeling that was now nearly deafening him, or if he did, he didn't show it. Deciding that if taichou found that oddness not enough as a threat then it won't really be much of a threat, Naruto decided to just ignore it and deal with it later. That is, if something happens at all.

Despite the cold temperature and the frost settling on the dirt ground and foliage, Naruto wasn't feeling very cold. The speed he had traveled in was a bit tiring but the small rest he had gotten was enough to invigorate him. The camp was not a salubrious place by any means, but other than the tingling in the air, the scenery was calming to the mind. He sat down next to the fire, his back propped up by his pack. Settling into a comfortable spot, he repositioned his katana next to him for easy access, and just sat, hugging his legs, and stared at the fire.

**_He sat there, hugging his legs, and stared at the fire. He was alone, alone with only the fire as his company, not a single sound in the barren land except the noisy wind blowing its mighty way, carefree. He had left his home to travel in hopes of finding some meaning in his life, and to reconcile with what had happened. But it had already been three months and yet the day was as fresh as yesterday. He was starting to think that he would never forget that moment, that he would have to live the rest of his life always staring into the face of death, the scream deafening his ears._**

**_Everywhere he went, he saw death and destruction. Everywhere he turned, he saw innocent civilians get killed, little children suffering out in the streets, cold and hungry, with their parents dead from the terrible disease called war._**

**_He couldn't hold it in any more, that terrible knot in his stomach and the tears that welled up in his tear ducts that he thought was empty by now. And so he howled into the wind, his voice full of anguish. He was no longer human but instead a beast, a brute, as he howled and howled._**

**_Minutes passed. It might have been hours. But he didn't care. The howling had gone out of him and emptiness had replaced it. He whispered into nothingness, his voice now nothing more than just croaking._**

**_"May God damn you."_**

Suddenly something cold brushing against his exposed neck awoke him back to reality. He instantly reached for his kunai, attracting his fellow teammates' attention, before relaxing, noticing that the assailant is none other than a small shower of puffy white things.

Then Naruto, being the eight-year-old he really was, became distracted by the small _something_ falling down from the sky and his gloved hand unconsciously moved to reach up, palm faced up, in the posture of a little boy trying to catch snow. Naruto stared at the tiny dust bunny on the cold leather of his gloves, and with a small surprise realized that it was snowflakes that he was seeing, snowflakes that he had only heard about from Karasu nii-san's stories.

_Could it be… snowing?_

He looked up at the sky and found that more of the… snowflakes were falling down from the dark cloudy sky, tinted red from the red flames reflecting off the pure white. They fell gently, and landed unbrokenly on the cold ground like how feather might float down, gracefully twirling as it glided down. Naruto felt an odd disappointment in seeing them melt near the fire – he wanted them to stay with him, and caress him with that softness.

A small part of him soared with _sheer joy _at witnessing snow, a part of him that he hadn't touched for a very long time. Konoha was a naturally hot climate, with only two distinct seasons: hot and sunny, and rainy and humid. It never snowed there, or if it did then very rarely, but apparently it wasn't a rarity in Cloud unless Naruto's team was just lucky.

Karasu nii-san told him about snow, about the nice kind that made you feel so calm and the fierce kind that was wild to the point of danger. Naruto decided that this snow was one of the nice kinds.

_"Karasu nii-san?" The little six-year-old Naruto chirped at the older boy who was sitting on his chair as he hurried to get ready for bedtime._

_"Yes, Naruto?"_

_"What is snow like? I remember you mentioning it long time ago but you never told me what it feels like or that kind of stuff. When did you first see snow? Where? How come we don't get snow here in Konoha?"_

_"Let me answer one question at a time. Hmm, let's see. Snow is basically crystallized water droplets. It's pure white, and is soft, even softer than silk or feather. Instead it's like the feeling of caress, the gentleness. When the world is blanked with snow, you feel like you're in heaven, away from everything in your safe haven. I was seven when I first experienced snow." Naruto noticed that Karasu nii-san's voice was not the usual calm, emotionless quiet but instead now colored with a slight degree of contentment, as though he was recalling something happy. "I was on a mission near Kumogakure_(A/N: Kumogakure is Village Hidden in Clouds) _when it happened. It was beautiful the way it floated down like dancers, like flower petals riding the wind. I just watched it fall, mesmerized by the elegant motion."_

_Suddenly Naruto could believe that Karasu nii-san wasn't the adult that he always thought him to be. Instead he was just like any other child, at least for that short moment of his first meeting with snow. Yes, Karasu nii-san was more composed than any other kids Naruto had ever met, but there was that child-likeness that Naruto noticed. He wondered just how great snow must be to make someone so disciplined like Karasu nii-san to be happy. There was certain happiness that was bubbling inside him as well, in Naruto's small puny body, and he wondered if this happiness is from the picture that Karasu nii-san had created inside his mind or if it was from some other external source._

_"Snow is a beautiful thing. It's the only thing we have left that is pure, untainted by the evils of this world. If everyone could have bits of snow in their heart, in their mind, this world would have so much less hatred and rivalry."Karasu's voice then turned somewhat edged yet wistful. "If everyone could have mind like snow, there wouldn't be any killing. There wouldn't be any war and they will all be happy…" he trailed off, and Naruto could see that Karasu nii-san was immersed in another memory of his, probably one that was not quite as pleasant as the one about snow from what he could tell from the slight tensing of Karasu's muscles._

_Naruto found himself oddly upset at seeing Karasu's moment of happiness gone, replaced by the ever present sadness. Then he realized that he was happy before because his nii-san was happy, and he was now upset because his nii-san was in one of his gloomy memories. Karasu nii-san was rarely happy, not in the way that his aura was just completely free of his troubles, in light purple, more like violet than anything._

_And Naruto knew that his nii-san would once again be happy when the war, the fight, the need to kill, was gone from this world – he could feel it. His nii-san was the most important figure in his life and he wished that gloom would lift. When the concept of war has disappeared from the face of this world and peace stretches from one end to the other, Karasu nii-san would finally be able to laugh and joke around like people his age should. So Naruto promised himself that he would one day bring forth such world where no war exists and only peace and tranquility remains. He swore on his honor that he would have his nii-san's dream come true._

It was the snow. Pure white snow. Karasu always admired snow, the pale beauty of it. He had said the snow was something to be revered, and Naruto knew that his nii-san must be right. And he was. Just the mere sight of snow brought ecstasy and rapture in Naruto's mind, and he knew that snow was the epitome of perfection.

Despite himself, Naruto slowly held up a hand and gripped his mask. Some of the Squad appeared surprised at this, as both Hyena and Cat looked curiously in his direction. Naruto readjusted it to the side of his head, his wide blue eyes staring up at the sky as the puffy whiteness continued to fall from the sky.

Then, he smiled. And it was such a timid yet happy smile, something so unlike the Jaguar that the squad knew, that they were suddenly struck with just how young their new member was. And a sudden realization washed over them. Because they knew there had to be a reason why they'd always worry more about him than anyone else, why Hyena still called him rookie, practically out of sheer habit now, why, despite his skills, the squad all felt the desire to both respect him and protect him at the same time. There was just something about him that seemed so…

"Santa's lap is always open, you know…" Hyena faltered, grinning suggestively at Jaguar.

_… so innocent._

Naruto laughed a merry laugh, a childlike amusement. "No thanks. I don't go for obese old men."

Hyena huffed with mock-annoyance. "You think you're funny, eh? Sorry, rookie. I'm a frickin' ball of sunshine! You'll hafta do better than that."

_You know… I'm starting to really hate that guy._

/Huh… I think he's starting to grow on me./

_…..?_

/Never mind…/

"The sight of snow feels so good, doesn't it?" Dove unexpectedly spoke up, in her soft, caressing voice, breaking Naruto out of his internal conversation. "It makes me think of when I was young, just barely eight, when my parents took me out of Konoha to a little trip." Oddly enough, the entire squad members suddenly tensed and looked at Dove with feelings that Naruto couldn't quite determine. The humor was gone from Hyena, and even his taichou had stilled and was listening intently to Dove. "I had such a great time then. My mother had to drag me out by my arms because I wouldn't get out of the snow." Her tone was happy, yet sad, and Naruto noticed with curiosity that she had similar aura Karasu nii-san had when he was remembering his sadder pasts.

"You must have really enjoyed the time," Naruto said, not knowing anything else that really fitted the situation.

"Yes. Snow seems to strike many people in their heart. I've seen many battle-hardened people, people whose fate had been cruel to them, be touched by snow," Dove told him.

"Someone told me that if everyone had mind like snow, then there would be no killing, no pain." Naruto wasn't sure why he was suddenly telling her this – his mouth seemed to move on its own volition. "He was like my older brother to me, even though we weren't even remotely related. He taught me many things, both in my shinobi and more worldly trainings."

"He seems like a wise guy, a good guy. Do you still see him, or is it now 'was'?" Dove's voice was tentative, as though she was afraid of touching a sore spot. And it was a sore spot for Naruto, even though it wasn't in normal way. He really missed Karasu nii-san and didn't know when he would see him again, but he knew that his onii-san wouldn't die so easily, no matter how tough the life of an ANBU is. He knew that onii-san wouldn't give up, that he would fight until the end for the vision of peace that he had always dreamt of.

"He's one of the few truly good guys I've ever known." Suddenly, Naruto couldn't help himself. Dove's quiet voice made him remember how Karasu nii-san had spoke with absolute clarity, and he felt sudden fear that he really would never see him again, and realized that he had never told onii-san that he loved him like one would love his brother. He needed to tell at least someone that, or else he knew that if he would forever torture himself for it, because it was nii-san that really understood him from the very start, that provided the firm backbone to his confidence. Sure, Kano was his best friend, but Karasu was like his brother.

"He was someone that you couldn't help but to respect, to worship. He was someone that you could trust to hold your troubles, to be your wall, and to be just there. He saw me before I saw myself, and guided me to define my own line of right and wrong. It was he who told me that no matter what I will have to do as a shinobi, I must not forget my humanity because without it, I will become nothing but a machine, a puppet. He once told me, 'No matter how strong, for a human to fight a monster means he has submerged his humanity and transformed himself into a greater monster.' And many have become the monsters, have forgotten their humanities, and I will have to fight them, thus lowering myself that much. But he also told me that no matter how much I'll have to transform myself into that greater monster, if I can retain my humanity and honor, I would be something more than just a pawn in this game played by the rulers of this world." Here Naruto stopped, thinking that he had said too much, and didn't continue.

"That nii-san of yours, he was a shinobi?" Naruto turned around to identify the speaker along with other ANBU members, and was surprised to find that the voice belonged to none other than his taichou.

Pushing his surprise aside, Naruto answered. "Yes… in fact, he was an ANBU, and still is. I haven't heard from him lately though, him being too occupied with his missions and all."

"I see," and with that, Ookami turned around and went back to whatever he was doing. However, Naruto saw that Ookami seemed… confused? Pained? He wasn't sure. The other ANBUs followed suit, all of them somber.

Naruto walked out to the vast snow-covered plain before him, his hands shoved into his pockets, staring at the darkening sky – the sun had already disappeared and only a slightest trace of red could be found in that darkness of the heavens above. As he walked, he felt Cat follow him and slowed down his pace so that she could catch up without breaking into a faster pace.

"You know, the nii-san of yours, he reminds me of someone I know, someone that I practically worship," Cat spoke.

"Does he? Who?"

Cat was silent for a moment before answering. "Do you remember when I told you about our Dai ni Taichou?" Naruto nodded. "Well, your nii-san reminds me of him. He was so young, yet saw so much. Always keeping to his own counsel, he never let us know when he was hurt or was too taxed. Saisho no Taichou loved him like one would his little brother… we all did. He was the youngest person ever to enter ANBU, yet did so much. He never told us his troubles, but we are covered for him anyways… when we saw him tired, when we saw that he was getting pushed a bit far."

The stars were finally making their appearance one by one, flickering like candle lights, and Naruto wondered if the stars were also enjoying the snow, or if they were weeping at whatever the violence was going on in another part of this world.

The two were quiet as they walked back to camp, a comfortable silence hanging between them.

"You two been on a relationship-building walk?" Hyena lightly bantered.

Naruto ignored him with a slight smile while Cat lightly bonked him in the head. "I'm going to take some zzz's. Wake me up when it's my call," Naruto told them cheerfully.

"'Kays, night Jaguar." Cat said with a yawn, stretching in a cat-like way, before making her way to her side of the tent.

Naruto grabbed his katana and slung it over his shoulder, before heading to the tent. After treading his way over the other ANBU's sleeping areas, he practically collapsed on his own spot indelicately. He stared up at the ceiling of the tent, a plain black with crisscrossing fibers for protection, for what felt like hours but really seconds. But eventually, his eyelids began to feel mercifully heavy, and Naruto fell into a restless sleep.

**~ xXx ~**

**_Complete darkness. My eyes blink wearily but all I can see is black. Infinitely black. For some reason, that doesn't scare me like it should._**

**_A wave of sleepiness hits me and I close my eyes. I feel… pleasantly warm. But something wet is falling on my cheeks. And as curious as I was, I couldn't find the will in me to open my eyes again. The wet… drops (?) run down my cheek._**

**_The world was mute against my ears, yet I could hear a choking sound behind me. Was somebody dying? No… Whatever the noise was, it sounded really sad. Then it hit me. Was somebody crying? Desperate to know, I force my eyes open, but this time, I don't see the darkness. All I could see was blue. Like the sky._**

**_And a voice -so quiet, so sad- breaks through the silence, a whisper in my ear._**

**"_Good night, Naruto."_**

Ironic as that may be, Naruto's eyes snapped open. He blinked rapidly, looking warily around the unfamiliar surroundings. Then, the recent memories hit him like a jolt. Ah right, he was on an ANBU mission.

He rubbed his temples. That was probably the strangest dream he's ever had, that is, if that was a dream at all. And that voice sounded so familiar, the name, the presence was at the tip of his tongue, but whenever he tried to remember it, that feeling would fade in with its surroundings like diluted solution. Strangely enough, Kyuubi wasn't saying anything either. But hell, he's been strange the entire time he's been in ANBU so maybe the fox is just going through some weird fox phase. Or he was just sleeping. Whatever works.

Staring at his pillow, Naruto considered going back to sleep, but after a few seconds, he shrugged and tugged on his boots before opening the tent flap and walking outside. It was still snowing, and the small crystal flakes woke him up properly. Either that or it was the scenery. Naruto couldn't help but stare at the raw beauty of nature at its fullest. The layer of newly fallen snow was serene and beautiful, draping over the ground and trees like a large fluffy blanket, offering its comfort to his eyes, inviting him into the icy coolness.

Small streaks of orange and blue raced along the clouds, the first sign of the sky in days, the dark fierce clouds gone without much fight. The sun was just rising, its estimate angle meaning that he had woken up just a few minutes before his guard watch at 6:00 a.m., confirmed by his watch. Meaning, of course, that…

Naruto looked around the camp, before finally seeing what appeared to be a large spiky snow hill. It was amazing how a single white cloak could drastically help in camouflaging against the whiteness. Ookami was sitting propped up against a bamboo tree, his white cloak that represented him as an ANBU Captain wrapped around his shoulders, which, combined with his silvery hair, created an effective concealment in the snow.

Taichou was reading his orange book tucked away behind his knee, most likely due to its rather bright, neon coloring. He didn't appear to notice when Naruto approached him, walking above the snow, though Naruto suspected that he did notice him after all and was just ignoring him. (After all, ice is technically water particles, so snow walking is very similar to water walking)

Naruto had no idea why he approached his taichou. Maybe he was just that damn bored.

"Aren't you supposed to be like, y'know, looking out into the trees?" Naruto piped up from beside Ookami, his voice slightly muffled by his red scarf. His breath turned to frost as it met the chilly air and Naruto watched in fascination as the white mist floated away gently.

_Flip. _"Yes. Yes, I am."

Twitch. Naruto sled down onto the cold ground beside Ookami, not really knowing what else to do. His blue eyes began to wander, drinking in the picturesque scenery, engraving it in his mind, the unadulterated beauty of it.

"So your brother… how'd your nii-san decide to become a ninja?" Naruto was surprised at the sudden question that he just stared at Ookami whose eyes were still riveted down to the book of his before he composed himself and answered.

"I'm not sure. He's not really my nii-san, but just someone that took care of me from when I was pretty young. I don't exactly know when but I just started calling him nii-san from one point," Naruto answered honestly, figuring that being honest won't really hurt or anything as long as he didn't reveal too much.

"Do you know when he joined ANBU?"

"Again, I'm not sure, but he's been in ANBU for at least four or five years now."

"He's a veteran then. He must be pretty adept at it to stay alive for so long."

Naruto wasn't sure where this conversation was heading to. Ookami still hadn't even glanced at him yet, and his eyes were still riveted to the open book, though Naruto noticed that Ookami was no longer reading, his eyes just blankly staring at the page. Whatever he was going at about, Naruto decided to play along.

"I guess so. He's really talented. Someone I know said so, said that nii-san was born talented." Naruto wondered why he was even talking about Karasu nii-san here in ANBU, especially to his taichou of all people, considering that personal life wasn't a very big deal in ANBU – in fact, it seemed as though most just wanted to forget about the life outside ANBU and created a separate identity behind that bone-white masks. To satisfy himself, Naruto conjured up a theory that they wanted to see a connection between him and them by the attachment they all held to a person with similar virtues, the way Naruto connected with Karasu nii-san and the way the rest of ANBUs connected with their Dai ni Taichou. Who knows, he might even be dead on.

"I wonder if I ever met him before." Naruto sensed… amusement? Ookami seemed amused, albeit in a more bitter way that made Naruto wonder what he was thinking of at the moment. "I must not have. If I had met someone like that, I'm sure I would remember him."

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't understand why, but he knew that there was deep bitterness inside his taichou that was suppressed with need, because if he let it go, then it would explode. The rancor was there, but Naruto didn't know who it was against or what might have caused it. His taichou was an enigma, even with his emotion bared before Naruto's sixth sense.

Ookami had sturdier wall around his emotions than most, guarding it like a lioness would its cub, but it may just as well have been air against Naruto's honed sense. Naruto had practiced and practiced, trying to get through the toughest of walls, and his sense was now like a whetted blade, fluid as flowing water. By no means was it perfect though, but it was enough to peek in his taichou's mind, as his taichou wasn't bracing himself for any intrusion. But he saw that Ookami had a near perfect control over his emotions to the point that the only one Naruto could think of that had better control was Karasu nii-san.

"So what was he like? Any quirks? What kind of ANBU was he? Field of specialty?" Ookami suddenly asked, catching Naruto off guard, but Naruto composed himself quickly and thought about the questions that were hurled at him.

"Nii-san was always quiet and soft-spoken, but I don't think it was out of shyness. I think it was instead just deep respect for other people – he was always respectful to everyone. In fact, he was the first one to treat me as more than just a kid and to talk to me in not those condescending tones that most adults assume but instead in adult-to-adult conversational tone. It might have been because of that that I instantly took liking to him. I wouldn't say he is taciturn, but he only said what he meant to say, no more, no less." Naruto told his taichou who was still staring at the book with his eyes unfocused.

"I don't think nii-san had much of quirks. He did love to train very much and often times trained until he was about to drop. It was one trait that we shared together. He would take me to a jonin training ground, or even ANBU training ground sometimes, and we would just train from sunup to sundown. Sometimes, he even taught me jutsus, which I would then practice for hours, trying to get it to look like nii-san's.

"Nii-san never really told me whole lot about ANBU. The only things I heard from him was just couple stories about his missions and that was very rarely. He was great at telling stories, and I loved those few opportunities. But if I had to guess what field he worked in, I would say special missions or assassinations because… well, lot of his stories had to do with having to engage in close combat and often assassinating people. He never liked assassination though – he told me that himself. He said killing was stealing the person's chance in life and it didn't matter whether it was supposedly justified or not." Naruto paused for a moment before resuming. "In fact, he said there is no justification for killing, that no one had the right to decide whether a person will live or die." Naruto wondered if he had said too much, revealed too personal a memory, but he somehow knew that taichou would understand these things, the things about his nii-san whom he was pretty sure his taichou had never met before.

"And what's your opinion on it?" Ookami asked, and for the first time that day, he looked directly at Naruto, his dark blue eyes boring into the cerulean of Naruto.

"I agree with him. I would do it for Konoha, for my teammates and those people that I really care about, and I would hate every moment of it. But I would still do it, the way nii-san did even though each kill he made caused countless sleepless nights, tortured him from the very inside. I could tell, even though he wouldn't admit it. I could tell that it was tearing him apart, the guilt of stealing someone's life. He had strong sense of justice and of right and wrong. And he strongly opposed killing, and I agree with him hundred percent. There is no justification for killing – it doesn't matter how great an evil he or she committed. We might fight fire with fire, but fighting evil with evil just multiplies the evil. Fighting the evil by killing doesn't make anything better. It doesn't undo the evil done and it doesn't bring anything back. All it does instead is making you sink to the level of that evil, to level below it. We're not God, we're not Kami-sama, and none of us have the right to say, 'You deserve to die, and you deserve to live.' Aren't we all in the end just insignificant creatures against the might of Death?" Naruto finished, his last question just floating there, not doing anything but to chill the air just a fraction more.

After Naruto's last sentence, he fell into silence. Ookami simple said nothing, and outwardly continued reading his book. But the seemingly peaceful moment was broken as Naruto suddenly choked out a laugh before snapped a hand to his mouth under the mask. Ookami watched in impregnable silence as Naruto slowly regained his composure.

"S-so…" Naruto choked out. "Why all the questions?"

Under the Wolf mask, Kakashi's eye formed into an upside down U. "No reason. You… just remind me of someone, that's all."

"Oh, okay..." Naruto said, not really knowing what to say. A sudden small vibration made Naruto look down, digging into his pockets and pulling out a watch. It was 6:00am.

"Hey Taichou, it's my time now."

Ookami gave a small tilt of his head in acknowledgement before standing up, and brushing snow off his shoulders. Naruto gave a small lazy wave as he passed him by before continuing to stare off in the snow laden bamboo forest.

God forbid if Naruto had the curiosity to see his Taichou's aura right now. It was a dizzying mass of black, silver, and blue. Ookami walked up slowly to the campfire, staring at its flickering flames. The Wolf mask looked to be a fearsome sight in the glow of the fire, it accenting the expressionless slitted holes for eyes.

But behind the mask, a single eye was furrowed in a swirl of confusing emotions. The sickening feeling of déjà vu. It had to be coincidence, right? Only coincidence…

_He stood there, the little boy that he practically considered as his little brother of a sort. He wasn't even 12 yet, barely 11 as it is, but he was a veteran already, well versed in the art of assassinating. And the way he was standing there, his body a dark silhouette against the setting sun, gave Ookami sudden chills. So young…, yet so old…_

_They had just come back from another assassination mission, another one of those bloody missions the damnable Elders gave out. Kids his age normally didn't do these things, didn't go around assassinating people daily, but he wasn't normal. He was second-in-command for heaven's sake. He was one of the best. But to Ookami, none of that mattered. What did matter was that he could feel that little boy's mind crumpling, getting chipped away, every killing becoming another chip that the ax of conscience beating away at his mind, at his heart, and Ookami wished he could do something… but there wasn't any. All he could do was watch and see, and if there was one thing he hated more than the Elders, it was helplessly watching, knowing that the boy would break sometime soon._

_"Hey, you should come inside. It's getting rather chilly out." Ookami called out to him, but he didn't respond. He continued gazing at the sky, and Ookami approached him after waiting for a minute or two, seeing that he wasn't about to come in anytime soon, at least not by his own volition. "You alright?" Ookami asked softly, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder._

_"I'm fine." But he wasn't, and Ookami could see that._

_"If these kinds of missions are so painful to you, an ordeal to you, then don't take it. You're not bound by any obligation to taken on every single mission that loathsome Elders give you. You shouldn't have to sacrifice your peace of mind just to make those senile tyrants happy." Ookami spoke with certain feeling, a feeling of brotherly protectiveness, the need to shield the younger from the evils. But he couldn't do no matter how much he wanted to, how much he tried to, because Karasu wouldn't let him. Karasu, the youngest shinobi ever to enter the service of ANBU, the prized genius of Uchiha clan, a boy who was loyal to the point where he would sacrifice himself for the good of others._

_"Taichou, how do you feel when you kill a person?" Karasu's question was so sudden and his voice was so desperate that Ookami was momentarily caught off guard. Quickly composing himself, Ookami proceeded to answer the question thrusted upon him._

_"I… I don't like it, but I still do it. It's for the good of the village, and I'm willing to do it if it's necessary for the village's well being." Ookami answered, still a bit confused as to why this question was so important to the young boy. "Why?"_

_"I just… was wondering. If there is someone else who feels the same way as I do when they are killing. Whenever I kill a person, I can't help but to wonder if I'm doing this all wrong. Maybe it's _not_ good for the village after all. We can't fight evil with evil, can we? No one has the right to decide who would live and who would die, not even the Honorable Elders. But they say it's for the good of Konoha, and I'll do it as long as Konoha will be happy."_

Ookami sighed mentally. Only coincidence… Then his thoughts turned dark.

_Ookami was at the memorial stone. Back then, he wasn't Ookami. Ookami was another man with long dark hair and fierce eyes, a man who would die on the day of Kyuubi attack, one of the many ANBUs that had given their life in service of Konoha. Back then, he was just Kakashi, plain Kakashi Hatake, if the name Hatake could be called plain, that is. The war had started nearly a year ago, on the day that his teammate Obito Uchiha had sacrificed himself for him, a worthless waste of space. But he would make himself be worth that space he occupies, he had promised himself. And he came here every day to tell Obito what was going on so that Obito wouldn't miss out. He had always loved to be in the thick of village troubles and Kakashi wouldn't let death be the barrier between him and Obito,not even for catching up on news._

_"You still miss him, don't you?" A familiar voice spoke gently and Kakashi was startled. He hadn't sensed him come at all, and he berated himself for that._

_"Yes, sensei." Then a sudden resentment sprang out of him, resentment against the ever sunny personality of his sensei, the ever-present grin and cheerful voice, and he added, "Do you?" His voice was bitter and took on the sneering tone that shocked Kakashi himself._

_The sudden bitterness seemed to have sucked the cheerfulness out of his sensei and Kakashi instant regretted saying it. "Yes, I do. I miss him very much." His sensei's voice was inlaid with pain that Kakashi didn't understand. He had a feeling that the pain wasn't just about Obito's death, but also about something else, something that his sensei never bothered to put out in the open or didn't want to be in the open. "All sensei harbors fondness, the sense of fraternal or even paternal feelings, for their students. Anyone who doesn't, well, they can't be really considered their sensei, can they?" Kakashi turned around and saw his sensei giving a wide smile with his eyes curving downwards, but he also noticed that the smile was fake, horribly fake, and he suddenly felt so childish for the resentment he felt mere seconds ago._

_"I'm sorry sensei. I just…" Kakashi trailed off, not knowing what to say. He was at loss for words and his tongue seemed inarticulate._

_"I understand, but don't go killing yourself over it. He didn't sacrifice his life so that you could spend the rest of your life berating yourself. What's been done has been done and I'm sure Obito would have wanted you to move on and do great things. Life is short and there is so much to be done. We are powerless against the might of Death, but we can, and should, at least do little things to make our life more meaningful than how we entered it." It was times like this that Kakashi really respected his sensei. His sensei may seem perpetually carefree and childlike, even, but he understood things. He had wisdom exceeding his age, and his undemanding and empathetic personality made it easy to talk to him. Minato Namikaze was a man of enigmatic background and acted childish at times, but many people, Kakashi among them, deeply respected him. "Kakashi…" he trailed off with a lugubrious expression, a look that Kakashi saw very rarely on his ever-cheerful sensei, before he suddenly put on a wide grin and said, "I think we had enough of this depressing talk. Why don't we go out and grab some bowls of ramen at old man Ichiraku's? It'll be my treat."_

_Kakashi allowed himself to be convinced by his sensei and the two took off to Ichiraku's ramen stall._

Something about Pantera and the nii-san of his bothered him. A lot. He reminded him of someone, and so did his nii-san. Ookami's eyes widened as he realized just who it was. The way they talk, the way they even think… it was…

_ "I could tell, even though he wouldn't admit it. I could tell that it was tearing him apart, the guilt of stealing someone's life… He said there is no justification for killing, that no one had the right to decide whether a person will live or die."_

_"No one has the right to decide who would live and who would die, not even the Honorable Elders. But they say it's for the good of Konoha, and I'll do it as long as Konoha will be happy."_

Then there was the thing about Pantera.

_"Aren't we all in the end just insignificant creatures against the might of Death?"_

_"Life is short and there is so much to be done. We are powerless against the might of Death, but we can, and should, at least do little things to make our life more meaningful than how we entered it."_

Why? Why did Pantera have to show up like that when he was starting to get over them? No, he would never get over them, but maybe he could somewhat get close to forgetting them, and that was all he wanted, putting them out of his mind.

Ookami pulled open his orange book, and flipped to the last page. Taped to the back of the book was a small photo of four people. The tallest one had bright, spiky blonde hair and was grinning at the camera, the corners of his eyes turned downwards, forming an upside down U shape. Ookami's eyes strayed to the one on the left, a small boy with short black hair and orange-tinted goggles. And then there was him, both eyes glaring at the camera, having been forced into being inside the photograph. His ever gravity defying silver hair barely tickled the chin of the blonde one.

Kakashi closed his eyes momentarily before looking at the last person on the picture, the person that he had purposely avoided looking at. She had medium length brown hair and peculiar rectangular tattoos on both cheeks. The girl was smiling innocently at the camera.

"Rin…"

* * *

**This is like the longest chapter I've ever written in my life. Yeah, I know it doesn't look that long, but the actual chapter was over 25,000 words, and over 45 pages in Microsoft Words. I had to cut the chapter in half for obvious reasons. My next chapter (well, the second part of this chapter, but I'm now considering of making it a separate chapter. That, however, then entails another writing of Naruto's 'journal entry' of a sort) will be much longer, of course, as you might have figured out if you did the math just now.**

**My chapter-ly question:**

**1) Why do you think Ookami/Kakashi is looking at Rin's photograph like that? (Remember, I'm no romance fan, though I would incorporate a milder romance in this story, so don't entirely cross off romance from the list, but remember that romance won't be the pivotal point in the relationship between Rin and Kakashi)**

**2) Most things I put in this story hold some sort of significance. What do you think Itachi's and Naruto's view on killing will have to do with story later on?**

**3) Why do you think Naruto experienced the memory (?) that doesn't belong to him as Squad White settled down and made camp? What was that thing about?**

**4) Why was Naruto feeling all jittery and sensing the heaviness in the air in Squad White's camping site? Is it just his imagination or is it real? If it is real, that why is that?**

**5) Naruto said, as he remembered Karasu nii-san telling him about snow, that he wanted to bring about a world where there was no need to kill, a world of peace and tranquility. Do you think he'll accomplish it, or will he realize that his goal is unrealizable and decide to give up after all? (Don't worry, I won't change the answer. I already have everything mapped out, including the ending of this story, the entire plot and events of the sequel, and the entire plot and events of the third and final story in this series)**

**So how was it? Good? Bad? Please review!**


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